Roddick and Lee Light Up Thursday Night
by Priya Prasad
Quarterfinal day in Homebush Bay, and the first featured match on
center court would see Martina Hingis exert her new confidence
against Sandrine Testud, winning 6-4 6-2 over the familiar
opponent. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin hit the court next and as
expected, Kim was once again too strong for her countrywoman. Once
she got her blood pumping late in the first set, she used the "home
crowd" support to run away with the second. Justine seems to still
be a little uncomfortable with herself at the moment, but will soon
grow into her new physique and just needs to play more big matches.
Meanwhile, Alexandra Stevenson failed to follow up on her big win
against Meghann Shaughnessy, and the eighth seed simply had to play
her percentages to send her compatriot packing to Melbourne.
On the men's side, Max Mirnyi had a routine match against France's
Julien Boutter, looking comfortable in his 6-4 6-2 win. Tournament
organizers had been right in choosing the match between Hyung-Taik Lee
and Andy Roddick for the night session instead of the more glamorous
one between Roger Federer and Marcelo Rios. Neither player was
particularly impressive in the match, and the crowd was disappointed
by the lack of quality in the 6-7(2) 7-6(4) 6-3 win for the Swiss
second seed.
The match of the day had to be the one between Andy Roddick and
Hyung-Taik Lee, where the youth that is invading men's tennis found
a perfect showcase. Big serving and flashy shots reigned throughout
the match, and Roddick had to fight with everything he had
against the qualifier, who showed no signs of fatigue. The result
was a match that could have ended either way, but Andy held a only
just a little steadier than his opponent, taking the risk of letting
his opponent go for the big shots, and came through 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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