As far as attributes go, Andy Roddick, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport on Saturday, has always been world-class. His all-time great serve, which helped him win 32 tour-level titles and finish in the year-end Top 10 nine straight years; his competitive personality, which endeared him to millions of fans; and his leadership – the American carried the U.S. flag for years, hauling the burden of sky-high expectations after the preceding generation of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jim Courier. But Roddick, more than anything else, was methodical. He was one of the hardest workers on the ATP World Tour, a relentless professional who did everything to max out his abilities....
Andy Roddick has had a busy start to his induction weekend at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. He toured the museum on Friday, checking out his own exhibit as well as the rest of the museum, which is divided into three sections: The Birth of Tennis (1874-1918); The Popular Game (1918-1968); and The Open Era (1968-present). Roddick also took time to talk with ATPWorldTour.com about a variety of subjects, including what exactly happened to his trophies and Roger Federer's continued dominance. Has it started to sink in yet, that you're inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame? I don't know that it will ever be real, walking through here and seeing my superheroes... It's just insane and...
Second seed John Isner continued his bid to reclaim the Newport title, advancing to the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over fellow American Dennis Novikov on Friday afternoon at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open. The top seed fired 20 aces and did not face a break point in the 73-minute victory. "Just one of those matches on a surface like this, with two pretty good servers, that's how it can go – you just get one break and you try to hold onto it. That's what I did," he said. "I felt like in the second set I could have extended it to a two-break lead but a lot of times one break is all I need...
Peter Gojowczyk ousted Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open defending champion and second seed Ivo Karlovic, saving a match point en route to a tight 7-6(5), 6-7(1), 7-6(4) victory on Thursday. "I'm very happy. It's my second [semi-final]," said Gojowczyk. "I was once in 2013 in Doha. I was there, playing well, too, and now I'm here in Newport and enjoying it." The 28-year-old German withstood 30 aces from his Croatian opponent and saved all three break points he faced to advance to the semi-finals after two hours and 26 minutes. Gojowczyk improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Karlovic to 2-0. "In the end it didn't go my way. That's life, that's tennis. That's how it goes sometimes," said Karlovic,...
Matthew Ebden has never experienced a run like it. The 29-year-old Aussie won his fifth match in as many days on Thursday to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open in Newport. After his big win against German Tobias Kamke, Ebden, who reached a career-high No. 61 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2012 and 2014, sat down with ATPWorldTour.com to talk about his “ATP Firsts”. First coach and most important lesson he taught me Coach Alf Neal. We always used to have a lot of fun, playing games and competitive games. I just remember one thing, on the volley he used to say, “Stop.” Like a stop sign, you know when...
