Roddick Stymied Again by Henman Attack Game at ATP Indian Wells
Posted on March 21, 2004
Tim Henman showed that his old-school game of slicing, net rushing and deft volleying is still the ticket in taking out today's big-hitters in men's tennis, Friday defeating Andy Roddick in a thrilling three-set quarterfinal 6-7(6), 7-6(1), 6-3 at the ATP stop at Indian Wells. "I don't think he beat me with his serve and volley," said Roddick, who didn't seem to be watching the same match. "When I was returning he would stay back, take the first forehand and kind of bully it to one of the corners and then come in. I thought I had him handcuffed on the baseline and he was able to do something with it on big points."
Henman squandered a break in the opening set, but got on top early in the second set tiebreak, then late in the third set put on a volley exhibition that left Roddick shaking his head. Throughout the match Roddick looked to be overcompensating on his serve against Henman's steady return, throwing down only 11 aces over the three sets.
"I think it was pretty good quality tennis," Henman said. "It was disappointing to lose a tight first tiebreak but I hung in there and managed to squeeze out a pretty tight second set and played a really good third."
In the semifinals Henman will face No. 90-ranked Georgian Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, who wore down James Blake in the all-unseeded quarterfinal 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-1. Labadze's huge serve and unorthodox lefty shots proved the difference for the thrilled Georgian.
"No, I don't believe," Labadze said. "I'm going to wake up and I'm still playing for my first round. When I won, I was like, 'This is not true.' Even when I had the match point, I was like, 'Is this match point?' I look at the scoreboard two times. 'Is match point?' When I won, I was very happy. Usually you scream or you do something. I was so happy, I couldn't do nothing. I was shocked. I couldn't even talk."
Henman and Labadze have never faced each other on tour. Freak Show had previously never won three consecutive matches in tour-level play.
In the Friday doubles semis, Black/Ullyett surprised (2)Bhupathi/Mirnyi 6-4, 6-4, and unseeded Frenchmen Clement/Grosjean continued their run with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 win over (5)Knowles/Nestor to set up the all-unseeded final.
On court Saturday at Indian Wells are (1)Federer vs. (5)Agassi, (9)Henman vs. Labadze (first meeting), and Clement/Grosjean vs. Black/Ullyett.
ANDRE AGASSI (USA) vs. ROGER FEDERER (SUI)
Agassi leads 3-2
2003 Masters Cup, Hard, F, Federer 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
2003 Masters Cup, Hard, RR, Federer 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
2002 MS-Miami, Hard, F, Agassi 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
2001 US Open, Hard, R16, Agassi 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
1998 Basel, Hard, R32, Agassi 6-3, 6-2
WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
No. 3 seed Lindsay Davenport advanced to the Indian Wells final Friday with a 6-2, 7-6(4) win over No. 19 Nathalie Dechy, narrowly avoiding a three-setter in the desert heat.
Daveport trailed 5-6, 0-40 in the second set, looking tired, dejected and muttering to her support team in the player's box, before storming back with five straight points for the game, and momentum for the tiebreak.
In the final Davenport will face top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne, who steamrolled No. 4-seeded Russian Anastasia Myskina 6-1, 6-1 on Friday night.
"I never expected that. I mean, winning 6-1, 6-1 against Myskina is pretty unusual," Henin-Hardenne said. "For sure, she did a lot of mistakes. She was probably a little bit tired also. She had really tough matches this week." Myskina blamed the pummeling on an inflamed shoulder muscle.
The doubles final will be No. 2-seeded Russians Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva (d. countrywomen Myskina/Zvonareva 6-2, 6-0 in their semifinal) against (1)Ruano Pascual/Suarez.
ATP TOP 10 WIN PERCENTAGE
Through Fri., March 19 (players still alive at the MS-Indian Wells in bold):
1. Federer, Roger (SUI) 20-1 .952
2. Hewitt, Lleyton (AUS) 15-2 .882
3. Agassi, Andre (USA) 12-2 .857
4. Moya, Carlos (ESP) 18-4 .818
5. Roddick, Andy (USA) 20-5 .800
6. Hrbaty, Dominik (SLO) 18-5 .783
7. Johansson, Joachim (SWE) 10-3 .769
8T. Coria, Guillermo (ARG) 12-4 .750
8T. Tim Henman (GBR) 12-4 .750
10. Kuerten, Gustavo (BRA) 14-5 .737
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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Tim Henman has now beaten Andy Roddick three of the four times they have played...James Blake again lost in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, and again folded in the third set of a match...How smart is Justine Henin-Hardenne looking for skipping Miami after (likely) winning Indian Wells, then taking two weeks off to rest and practice up on clay, so she'll then be waiting for the rest of the field (which will be coming off hardcourt) at the clay stop at Amelia Island? As the Brits would say, "Brilliant!"...From the LA Times: "First-time attendees and other casual observers are advised to stay clear of the exits as the Agassi-Federer match winds down. Henman-Labadze doesn't quite have the same ring. In boxing, they call this the undercard."...Anastasia Myskina says she'll take a month off after Miami...H-H says she looks forward to skipping Miami: "I'm going to Saddle Brook, Florida. I'm going back with my coach, Pat Etcheberry. My coach's family and my husband are coming there to see us. So that's good. I love being there. That's a great place. That's a place where I can work. And now the goal is preparing the claycourt season. You know it's very important for me and I want to be ready. It's a different preparation, so I need two weeks to work hard and be ready for the next tournaments."...Andre Agassi has a 10-19 career mark against No. 1 players going into today's match with Roger Federer.