Roddick triumphs, del Potro falls in five-set thrillers

MELBOURNE, Australia

“Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good,” said Andy Roddick after he had sweated through 3 hours and 25 minutes to clinch a come-from-behind victory against his old rival Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 under the lights on Rod Laver Arena.

Roddick had a smile on his face talking to Jim Courier after the match but it was a harsh self-assessment for this was a great fighting display from the American who has never known how to give up. It was a long time since Roddick had recovered from a two-sets-to-one defecit -- seven years, in fact, on this very court when he won a classic against Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui 21-19 in the fifth.

Roddick went on to reach the semifinal that year which is as far as he has ever gone at the Australian Open. Now he is in the quarters and will face the newest threat to the game’s hierarchy, Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who won a marathon of his own earlier in the evening against Juan Martin del Potro.

If Roddick had any luck it was with line calls that kept going his way as the frustrated Chilean, who smashed his racket out of shape after losing serve at the top of the fifth set, was proven wrong time and again when he challenged calls. Gonzalez was particularly upset on set point to Roddick at 6-5 in the fourth when he challenged the American’s forehand crosscourt winner only for HawkEye to reveal that it had, indeed, clipped the line.

Gonzalez protested vociferously when the umpire judged, correctly, that Gonzalez had made no attempt to play the ball and that, therefore, there was no cause to have the point replayed. But his argument fell on deaf ears.
It was hardly surprising that the Chilean, who was once coached by Larry Stefanki, the man currently in charge of Roddick’s tennis, felt furious as the game slipped away from him because he had played some wonderful tennis in the second and third set, powering winners all over the court as he stepped inside his baseline and took the play away from his opponent.

But in their 11 previous meetings, Gonzalez had only managed three wins, the last of which was as long ago as 2006 in Vienna. That sort of record can prey on a player’s mind and as Roddick scrambled around the court, digging out balls and coming up with some great winners of his own, the edge went off the Gonzalez game.

“When Fernando gets hot, the match is out of your control,” said Roddick afterwards. “You just have to fight and stick around to give yourself a shot. At two sets to one down I told myself I wasn’t going anywhere. I don’t know if I was kidding myself but it seems to work. I’m just happy to be through.”

Cilic takes out del Potro in a classic

Over on Hisense Arena, a packed crowd of 10,000 had been riveted for 4 hours, 38 minutes as the longest contest of the tournament so far saw Marin Cilic eventually upset the No. 4 seed and reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

They look each other in eye, these two giants who hold the future of the game in their hands. Both stand 6-foot-6 and both hit a tennis ball with such devastating ferocity that spectators frequently didn’t believe what they were seeing. Their talent is such that they can unleash huge, line-hugging forehands with amazing consistency, pulling each other all over the court as they search for ever acuter angles.

Physically, it was a bone-crusher and, almost inevitably, the Argentine came off the worst because he has been suffering from all manner of ailments to wrist, forehand and toe with a possible side muscle problem thrown in. In reality, it was a miracle that del Potro was able to fight as long and as effectively as he did.

“It was hard,” admitted Cilic afterwards. “But with a lot of joy at the end. I mean, it was a really tough match, especially first two, three sets when he played some great tennis. I had to stay all the time really focused. I think the good thing that kept me in there was my serve.”

Cilic, who spent 2009 on a steady upward curve under the tutelage of his Monaco-based Australian coach Bob Brett, had lost to del Potro twice over four sets last year -- firstly here at the Australian Open and again at the U.S. Open. Cilic said that the experience of those matches helped him.

For del Potro, the last chance of victory came and went when he missed a forehand on break point in the last game of the match. “Marin is playing great match and I think he did better than me and he won,” said del Potro who did not duck out of admitting to physical problems.

“My whole body, really,” he said with the hint of a sad smile. “I will go home and I will see the doctors there. I need a little rest to recover and be in good shape for the next tournaments.”