With torrential rain falling outside the roofed but outdoor
Pat Rafter Arena, Soderling's strong serve and pinpoint return of serve stymied
Roddick throughout the match and enabled the Swede to finish the tournament
without dropping a set.
“He had a great week, played well today and served too well,”
Roddick said. “Every time I had a look in, he came up with one of those big
serves. I'm usually on this side, but today I was on the other side.” Chair umpire
Fergus Murphy called the players off the court after rain blew in through a gap
between the stands and the roof. The delay at 4-4 in the second set appeared to
be prompted by Roddick slipping on the baseline.
During the break, Roddick was heard to tell Murphy: “I am not
getting hurt before the (Australian) Open,” which begins Jan. 17.
“I just wanted to make sure we weren't playing on a slippery
court,” he said later of his spirited conversation with Murphy.
“I love this tournament but that being said if it was set
alone you wouldn't have the entire tennis world coming down to this area. The
end goal is Melbourne. I don't think you want to compromise the quality of your
final with having guys scared to move.” At the trophy presentations, Roddick
endeared himself to the crowd of about 5,000, first by jokingly offering to buy
umbrellas for the spectators at the top of the stadium who got wet due to the
heavy rain.
He then doubled his contribution to victims of extreme
flooding in Queensland state, of which Brisbane is the state capital. Ten
people have died since late November and about 200,000 have been affected by
the floods, and roads and rail lines have been cut.
Roddick pledged $100 for each of his 54 aces during the
tournament. He then said he would double that amount and told the crowd that if
they each contributed $2 to the flood appeal, they'd match his total.
In the women's final Saturday, Petra Kvitova of the Czech
Republic beat Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-1, 6-3.
