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by Christopher Gerby Carlos Moya vs. Andy Roddick Singles: Second Round Court 1 After successfully returning Greg Rusedski's big serves in the first round, Carlos Moya set out to neutralize the equally powerful deliveries of 18-year-old phenom Andy Roddick. The Spaniard sent a message right away, clobbering forehand winners to end five of the match's first six points. Roddick served his way out of danger, though, and was the first to score a break, going ahead 3-2. Roddick won Game 6 with a nifty reflex volley on a laser shot from Moya right at him. Andy celebrated by kicking his leg into the air. Moya held for 3-4, but Roddick launched two aces and a pair of winning forehands in a love hold for 5-3. Carlos was finally looking genuinely overmatched -- he played a horrendous service game to lose the 6-3 set. A group of Moya fans waving a Spanish flag tried to inspire their charge with a chant of "ole ole ole, Moya Moya." Roddick couldn't serve until they stopped, so chair umpire Carlos Bernardes intervened with a "gracias" (as opposed to the "merci" traditionally used to quiet the fans here in Montreal). The second set went with serve to 4-4, Roddick having better opportunities to break than Moya. Roddick scored another hold for 5-4 and earned a match point at 30-40. The fans cheered loudly as Roddick bounced on his toes, anticipating victory. However, he threw the match point away with a forehand error. He earned another chance at it, but Moya came up with a deep second serve to gain deuce. On the following point, Carlos hit a drop shot, Andy ran it down, and Carlos was right there to knock off a winning volley. Moya punched the air, confident that he was back in this set. He went to the drop shot again and Roddick could only bunt the ball back into the net to make it 5-5. Having let two match points slip, Roddick got a little out of control in Game 11, misfiring on flashy, low-percentage shots. Moya got his first break of the match and an angry Roddick whacked the top of the net with his racquet. Moya wasted no time serving it out, knocking home another winning forehand volley to complete a come-from-behind 7-5 win of the second set. Now the young American was stuck in a third set against a gritty opponent who had the momentum. The frustration was obvious and Roddick took some of it out on the umpire, telling him to "open your frickin' eyes" after one dodgy line call. A-Rod was still serving well, though, and he took a 3-2 lead on serve. Leading 30-15 in the next game, Moya missed a sitting duck of a forehand, double faulted, and made a running defensive error to drop serve. Roddick turned to coach Tarik Benhabiles and pumped his fist, having put a nose in front at 4-2. Moya, meanwhile, picked up a ball abuse warning and threw his racquet. All Roddick had to do was win two more service games, but he got wild again and was immediately broken at 15. Now it was Roddick smacking a ball in anger and Moya pumping his fist in celebration. When Moya evened things at 4-4, the atmosphere couldn't be more electric. "Mucho Carlos!" came one loud comment from the stands, with others offering encouragement to Roddick. After three tense deuces, Roddick committed a forehand error to give Moya break point. A-Rod then threw in his 13th (and most costly) double fault of the day to hand Moya a winning lead of 5-4. With two hands, Roddick violently slammed his racquet, rendering it a mangled mess and of course picking up a code violation. "I probably got my first ATP fine coming my way," Roddick later said of that infraction. Just when Moya seemed on the verge of a huge win, he choked his way to 0-40 with a double fault and two errant backhands. After saving the first two break points, Moya got into a mano-a-mano exchange of forehands with Roddick and finally lost it by burying one in the net. Roddick was back in business at 5-5. He was pushed to 30-30 in the following game, but answered with two aces in a row to regain the lead. Moya looked to serve his way into a tiebreak, but fell into a 15-30 hole. He hit a spectacular behind-the-back shot from one baseline to the other in the middle of the next rally, but was finally overpowered for 15-40. Roddick's third match point, so long after the first two, was the charm. He stepped into a mighty forehand winner and threw his arms skyward. Andy Roddick's knack for giving the fans their money's worth was proven with this 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 triumph, easily the best match I've seen in the tournament thus far. "I just told myself to stay calm," Roddick said after surviving nearly two and a half hours of challenging baseline conversation under the blazing sun. "I always tell myself to keep fighting, keep battling. You never know what's going to happen in a tennis match. That paid dividends for me today." Next up for him is a very intriguing third round match against top seed Gustavo Kuerten. "I've never played him before and I like playing the best players. That's what you're out here for, so I'll have a blast." Kuerten (an easy winner over Gaston Gaudio this afternoon) concurred. "It's going to be tough, I'm sure. He's playing well and he has big serves, so I'm sure it's going to be (an) interesting match." Todd Martin vs. Fernando Vicente Singles: Second Round Court 1 With seeds falling all over the grounds like the raindrops we've managed to avoid this week, a perennial bridesmaid like Todd Martin may have a realistic path to the title. He tried to take the next step on Wednesday, taking on Fernando Vicente. Not unlike Carlos Moya, Vicente is a Spaniard who actually has some pop on his first serve. He doesn't have Moya's size, though, and he found himself with an early 1-3 deficit here. Martin was in full flower in Game 5, scoring two aces, an overhead smash, and winning backhand volley in a love hold. Vicente made it to 2-4 and had opportunties to break in Game 7. Martin served his way to 5-2, but Vicente was getting into a groove and really making the big guy work. He finally did get a break for 4-5, issuing a wakeup call to the man from Michigan. Todd turned things up a notch in Game 10, clocking a return winner for 30-40 and demolishing an unwise lob to break Vicente and win the set 6-4. At 1-1 in the second set, Martin was put through his paces in a long, difficult service game. On break point, the scrappy Spaniard made three impressive gets in a row, somehow turning the third into a perfectly angled backhand winner. It was definitely a point for the highlight reels and it put the momentum squarely in Vicente's corner. He played virtually flawless tennis for the rest of the second set, deftly placing one backhand winner after another. Martin was either shell-shocked, conserving his energy, or both, because he became a non-factor in the second set. Fernando Vicente won it 6-1. During the break between sets, Todd changed his shirt and became a new man. After the walkabout he'd been on for the past few games, he suddenly looked focused and hungry, powering his way to a 4-0 lead in the final set. Vicente's quality of play had gone down, but he held at love for 1-4 and followed that up with a spirited return game. Martin wasn't about to confirm his reputation for letting big leads slip, though. He shouted "come on!" after saving a break point with a clutch service winner. Martin finally closed out a hold for 5-1, but Vicente just would not go away. At 5-2, Fernando whipped a beautiful backhand pass to reach double break point. Still coming up with big serves when he needed them, Martin fought off a total of three break points in the game before getting to match point. A forehand winner down the line sealed the deal -- Todd Martin advances 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. He'll have a familiar opponent on Thursday in fellow veteran Patrick Rafter. I asked Rafter if the thought the fast surface (more conducive to Todd's flat serves than Pat's kick deliveries) might give the American a bit of an advantage. "I don't think so. We've had a lot of good battles, Todd and I. We've played a lot on hard courts. We know each other's games very well. Generally we've played some pretty good tennis against each other." Bjorkman/Woodbridge vs. MacPherson/Stafford Doubles: First Round Court 3 The world's top-ranked doubles team got an early scare on Wednesday evening, falling behind 3-5 against a pair of unheralded doubles specialists: Australian lefty David MacPherson and South African vet Grant Stafford. (Stafford was a credible singles player as recently as last year, but his waistline has expanded to the point where he nearly resembles MacPherson's former partner, the since-retired Trevor "Tank" Kronemann.) Things were looking up for the top seeds when I arrived, though. They had rallied for a 6-5 lead and MacPherson was being treated for an injury to his left wrist. David was called for foot faults on the first two points after play resumed, but he held on to force a tiebreak. At 1-2, MacPherson made a terrible return and grabbed his heavily taped wrist. He played on, though, and got a mini-break when Woodbridge missed a half-volley. It was a poor tiebreak all the way around for Woodbridge, who also blew an overhead. The underdogs wound up claiming the 'breaker 7 points to 4. Down a break point in the opening game of Set 2, MacPherson hit a volley, let out a loud cry of pain, and fell down. Bjorkman ripped a ball past him to break for 1-0. MacPherson got right back up, however, and swore he was fine. In fact, he was the star of a Jimmy Connors-ish rally in Game 2. MacPherson managed to toss up four defensive lobs in a row before Woodbridge hit a smash wide to lose the point. The point obviously stuck in MacPherson's mind, because he spent the rest of the set hitting lobs. Sometimes they worked, but Bjorkman and Woodbridge still had the upper hand. Even playing against a halfway incapacitated opponent (who was hitting two-handed volleys to protect his wrist), Todd and Jonas looked plenty fired up. They stormed ahead to a 6-1 win of the second set. At 1-1 in the third set, around 8:15 PM, MacPherson asked if some additional lights could be turned on overhead. Remember, this is little Court 3, never used for actual matches before this year. The umpire told him he'd pursue it on the next changeover, but David insisted on halting play here. "Aren't we supposed to stop on an even-numbered game? It's pretty dark." Bjorkman looked anxious and annoyed, so Umpire Murphy announced a creative compromise -- he immediately moved the match to the more spacious, well lit Court 6. He didn't realize (or didn't care) that Canada's own Frederic Niemeyer was in the middle of a practice session there. Niemeyer quickly got the hint and high-tailed it to Court 5. Meanwhile, without even a brief warmup to adjust to the new surroundings, the doubles match got back underway. MacPherson and Stafford were mostly powerless in their return games, but they managed to stay even at 3-3. Woodbridge held easily for 4-3 in the third. The # 1 seeds failed to convert one break point in Game 8, but on a second try Bjorkman hit a terrific return. As Stafford's reflex volley sailed long, the pumped up Swede yelled "come on!" Just as quickly as he got control, though, Bjorkman gave his opposition new hope by double faulting, missing a smash, and netting a low volley. MacPherson/Stafford failed to convert any of the resulting break points, though, and Bjorkman unleashed a service winner to reach match point. Jonas then angled off a winning backhand volley, raised his arms, and allowed himself to fall backwards, lying prone on the court in a state of ecstatic relief. The 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory -- featuring two courts and numerous grimaces from the hurting MacPherson -- was certainly a unique, memorable one. Bjorkman and Woodbridge will hope for a less dramatic outing when they meet David Adams and Sjeng Schalken in the next round. Knowles/MacPhie vs. Gimelstob/Lareau Doubles: First Round Centre Court After a miserable 6-1, 6-2 singles loss to Wayne Black on Tuesday night, Sebastien Lareau looked to redeem himself in doubs. Lareau is a major fan favorite here in his hometown and the stands remained mostly full for this nightcap. Unfortunately, Lareau and partner Justin Gimelstob had their work cut out for them against one of the world's most solid doubles teams, Mark Knowles and Brian MacPhie. At 5-5 in the opening set, Gimelstob and Lareau played an inspired return game against Knowles. At 30-40, Justin drove a volley right at MacPhie, who blocked it back into the net to surrender the break. Gimelstob turned to Lareau and enthusiastically pumped his fist. Undaunted, Knowles and MacPhie broke Lareau's serve, sending the set into a tiebreak. The Canadian-American pairing went ahead 4 points to 2, but Lareau then hit a very untimely double fault. That shifted the momentum right back to Knowles/MacPhie, who won the first set tiebreak 7-5. Furious over a line call early in Set 2, Justin Gimelstob kicked the net and had a long, animated discussion with the chair umpire. A lingering back injury has all but ruined Justin's year...and now he's sporting a hairdo straight out of "The Brady Bunch". One reporter said the wild curls brought to mind former Edmonton Oiler Craig MacTavish, the last NHL player to compete without a helmet. But enough about all that. Knowles and MacPhie were virtually untouchable in their service games, while Gimelstob and Lareau had to work hard just to keep their heads above water. There were several more outbursts from Gimelstob, including one in which he shouted "out!!!" and repeatedly gestured to a mark behind the service line while waving his arms around. The third set stayed on serve all the way to 6-5 Gimelstob/Lareau. It looked like they might steal it at the wire, as Sebastien cracked a winning return to earn a break point against Knowles. An unreturnable smash by MacPhie closed that door, though, and set the stage for another tiebreak.
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