Roddick, Henman Advance to QF Meeting at ATP Indian Wells

Posted on March 19, 2004

Andy Roddick looks to only be getting better as the ATP stop in Indian Wells moves into quarterfinal play, on Wednesday routinely moving past Frenchman Nicolas Escude 6-3, 6-2 amid a barrage of aces from his trusty Babolat racquet.

"I feel good," said the No. 3-seeded Roddick, who at one point in the first set threw down four consecutive aces, then three more in his next service game. "I'm in a pretty good groove right now. I just want to keep it up."

In the quarterfinals Roddick will be looking to Babolat No. 9 seed Tim Henman, who was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs. The Brit calmly handled Arthur's legendary serve, which is not a good sign for Roddick, who lost two of three meetings with Henman last year.

"It's going to be a tough match," said Roddick on facing Henman. "Obviously Tim has shown for years and years and years and years that he's capable of beating anyone. I'm definitely going to have to serve well because he's great at making you play well on your own service games. If he puts a racquet on it, he puts it in play...He's obviously one of the best volleyers in the world, if not the best. It's going to be a good match, I'm looking forward to it."

There were two other fourth-round winners on the day in James Blake, who defeated Taylor Dent 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1 in a match that could have Davis Cup implications, and Georgian Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, who ousted No. 22 seed Agustin Calleri 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in only his second appearance at a Masters Series event.

In doubles the top-seeded Bryan brothers were shocked in straight sets by Frenchman Arnaud Clement/Sebastien Grosjean, while No. 2 seeds Mahesh Bhupathi/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi rolled past Spaniards Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal/Tommy Robredo in straights. "We usually start with an easy service game from Bob," Mike Bryan said. "But the sun was so tough on that side that I started, and we messed up."

On today in QF action are Aussies (4)Arthurs/Hanley vs. (5)Knowles/Nestor, (1)Federer vs. (32)Chela (Fed leads meetings 2-0), (4)Coria vs. (5)Agassi (Agassi leads 2-1), Black/Ullyett vs. Germans Kiefer/Schuettler, and Frenchmen Clement/Grosjean vs. bouncing Czechs (6)Damm/Suk.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Two sleeper quarterfinals on the women's side Wednesday, with No. 3 seed Lindsay Davenport pounding Argentine qualifier Gisela Dulko in straights, and No. 19 Nathalie Dechy ousting No. 15 Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga in straights. Soon it will be time to sit up straight in your chairs, with a Davenport vs. Henin-Hardenne final fast approaching.

"I feel like today I was pushed a little bit more. This girl (Dulko) played a lot better than the other girls I've played so far this tournament," said Davenport, who has lost only 12 games in four matches. "If a match gets to 5-all in the third, who is to say I would do any better if I didn't already have a close match? Hopefully I won't get to that point at all in these 10 days."

Into the doubles semis were (1)Ruano Pascual/Suarez (d. Perebiynis/Talaja with an illness walkover), and unseeded Americans Davenport/Morariu (d. (7)Petrova/Shaughnessy 6-1 in the third).

On today in QF action are (1)Henin-Hardenne vs. (12)Kuznetsova (the Russian won their last meeting), and (4)Myskina vs. (11)C.Martinez.

ATP TOP 10 WIN PERCENTAGE
Through Wed., March 17 (players still alive at the MS-Indian Wells in bold):

1. Federer, Roger (SUI) 19-1 .950
2. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) 15-2 .882
3. Agassi, Andre (USA) 11-2 .846
4. Roddick, Andy (USA) 20-4 .833
5. Moya, Carlos (ESP) 18-4 .818
6. Coria, Guillermo (ARG) 12-3 .800
7. Hrbaty, Dominik (SLO) 18-5 .783
8. Johansson, Joachim (SWE) 10-3 .769
9. Kuerten, Gustavo (BRA) 14-5 .737
10. Tim Henman (GBR) 11-4 .733

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
As expected, Greg Rusedski was named to the Brit Davis Cup team for their upcoming minor league zonal meeting with Luxembourg, which is kind of like the high school you didn't think had a tennis team. With Rusedski's fitness level in question, it is unknown whether he will play singles, doubles only, or ride the pine...Justine Henin-Hardenne says she gets a lot out of watching Roger Federer play: "Him and (Andre) Agassi are my favorite players. I think I watch them a lot. I watched the match this afternoon, and I learned a lot of things. I'm very impressed the way Federer is playing right now, the confidence he got, I think now he is the best for sure. He's playing unbelievable tennis. He believes in himself."...Russian Anastasia Myskina on her countrywoman Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova's father yelling at her the whole match while Myskina pummeled her: "My father used to yell at me, and I just know how to feel because it's lot of pressure. I mean, of course we all want to win. All coaches want us to win. But you don't have to yell at the player. Just puts down more, that for sure."...Justine Henin-Hardenne says she is skipping Miami to prepare for the claycourt season and the Amelia Island (Florida) event following Miami: "You have to make a choice in your life. I like to play on claycourt. I want to be ready for sure for the French Open, and I need a couple of tournaments. It's my favorite surface...Two big tournaments in a row, I think it's a little bit too much." Smart stuff, since Serena is also playing Amelia, and with Serena coming off the hardcourt, and H-H well-practiced on the dirt -- bam!...Taylor Dent's service placement deserted him in his loss against James Blake: "Even when I'd hit them in, I wasn't making him move. I was putting them right in the honey hole. He was hitting winners. If I served well, if I hit the spots like I should, it doesn't happen. So it's a bit disappointing. But, you know, again, that's the reason why I've been losing other matches. Just reconfirming what I have to work on."...During one stretch against Nicolas Escude Wednesday at Indian Wells, Andy Roddick hit aces on seven of eight consecutive first serves. You've been Babolated!...Andy Roddick's drive to come into the net more started with the loss to Vince Spadea in Scottsdale: "I felt like when I played Spadea, he was kind of chipping a bunch of returns deep and then we were neutral after that. So, you know, (coach) Brad (Gilbert) and I kind of went back to the drawing board. We finally made up our minds that you can work on (volleying) as much as you want to in practice, but if you don't set your mind to actually go do it, it's not going to improve. I came to the net a couple times against Spadea and just looked terrible. It's something that I think I have to commit to doing a little bit more." That's a quick turn-around, considering A-Rod has looked like Stefan Edberg this week at Indian Wells, sticking tough volleys in wins over Jan-Michael Gambill, Marat Safin and Nicolas Escude. And here we thought it was the Babolat that couldn't volley...The loss by the Bryan twins Wednesday broke their streak of six consecutive tournament finals...The LA Times' T.J. Simers is on the loose at IW: "The last time I saw the Watch Girl, she broke down, running from the Staples Center media room, while her handler scolded me for being "too direct." I said, 'I suppose I could have asked her out for a date first before becoming so personal -- asking her why she wears a watch while playing tennis.' I was told the Watch Girl, Justine-Henin Something or the Other, returned to Staples Center last year for the tennis tournament that no one cares about. But at the time it was kind of agreed upon that if I laid off the Watch Girl, I'd get all the time I wanted with someone with a personality. So I took the opportunity to chat and make fun of Pam Shriver. Shriver's pregnant now by James Bond, or the guy who played Bond and married Diana Rigg in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," and there's a messy situation that I think I best avoid. I also have a little known rule on Page 2: I don't make fun of anyone whose hormones might be out of whack and who is still capable of wildly swinging a racket."...TV reports from Indian Wells have Andy Roddick and Mandy Moore breaking up, which seems to be a monthly "exclusive"...No. 127-ranked Aussie teen Todd Reid was granted a Miami wildcard for next week.