CINCINNATI, Ohio, 19 August 2003 — Andy Roddick needed plenty of perseverance to reel in fellow American Mardy Fish 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) Sunday to win his fifth title of the year at the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati.
After surviving to take the win, Roddick’s first concern was to wish his father, sitting in the stands, a happy birthday.
“Happy birthday, Dad,” said the seventh-seeded Roddick. “I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad and happy birthday.”
The 20-year-old Roddick, who moved to No. 1 in the ATP Champions race on Monday, is the player to beat these days, having won three titles on the hardcourt summer circuit in the US — Indianapolis, Montreal and Cincinnati.
Roddick, however, was reluctant to accept the role of favorite for the upcoming US Open, the last Grand Slam of the year.
“I don’t know,” said Roddick, when asked if he feels like the US Open favorite. “I mean, everything that happened this summer is out the door when you start a grand slam. You know, as my coach (Brad Gilbert) can tell you, he had a great summer one time, but I think he lost first round of the Open.
“You know, I’m happy for the summer I’ve had so far, but now I need to regroup, calm down and get ready for a whole new tournament.”
Roddick’s strategy in the week until the Open will not include endless practice. Instead he will take a plunge from a plane with Gilbert, who he persuaded to promise to skydive if he won the Montreal title last week.
“I’m not going to probably touch a racket for the next two days,” Roddick said. “I’ll probably get bored by Tuesday and pick it up again, but I’m not sure.”
Roddick’s victory gave him back-to-back Tennis Masters Series titles, and made him the first to win back-to-back trophies in Canada and Cincinnati since Australian Patrick Rafter in 1998. Roddick boasts a 30-2 record since winning Queen’s Club in early June. Looking flat throughout most of the first two sets, Roddick came alive on the fifth point of the second set tiebreaker when a volley exchange finished with the 21-year-old Fish netting a forehand and both players high fiving each other at the net.
“Obviously, I wouldn’t have wanted this to end any other way, but definitely as he walking off, I felt for him,” Roddick said. “I’d have no problem if I didn’t really know the guy or if I just said ‘hi’ in passing sometimes, but to know someone pretty well and what they’re going through, it’s tough.”
Minibreaks on the seventh and 10th points put Roddick even at one set apiece. Roddick saved two match points on his own serve in the 10th game of the final set — changing tactics by kicking his serve out wide to Fish’s backhand on those two occasions.
He then seemed to steal the match from his childhood friend when he executed a winning forehand crosscourt passing shot to break serve and go up 3-2 in the final set tiebreaker. “I’m sure I’ll look back in a couple days or whatever, once I get over the fact that I did have two match points to win my first tournament and just say it was a great tournament,” Fish said. “But I’ll always — hopefully not forever — say, ‘what if.’”
Fish, who posted wins over the 20th-ranked Mark Philippoussis, 14th-ranked David Nalbandian and eighth-ranked Rainer Schuettler en route to his third career final, should move up to around No. 25 in the rankings to be seeded at the US Open.
Henin Wins Sixth Title of the Year
In Toronto, world No. 3 Justine Henin-Hardenne romped to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over unseeded Russian teenager Lina Krasnoroutskaya in the final of the $1.3 million Canadian Open on Sunday.
It was the Belgian’s sixth title of the year, putting her level with compatriot and world No. 1 Kim Clijsters. Clijsters was beaten by Krasnoroutskaya on Thursday when the tournament was delayed by the largest blackout to hit the northeastern United States and Canada.
The Belgians are friendly rivals, with Henin-Hardenne hot in pursuit of Clijsters’s No. 1 ranking. “For sure, being No. 1 is the goal right now,” Henin-Hardenne said. She broke serve in the opening game to set the tone, then held hers to go up 2-0. The 19-year-old Russian came to life in the third game, fighting back from triple break point to win.
