Roddick downs Hewitt

ByEurosport

Published 07/09/2006 at 03:53 GMT

American Andy Roddick beat Australian Leyton Hewitt in straight sets to book his place in the last eight at Flushing Meadows. The match was far less one-sided than the 6-3 7-5 6-4 suggested, but the number nine seed found a way on the important points and

TENNIS 2006 U.S. Open 1R Andy Roddick

Image credit: Reuters

Roddick will will now face unseeded Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-finals, with the ninth-seed hoping to become the first American male to win a grand slam tournament since he won the Open in 2003.

The American, now coached by legend Jimmy Connors, blasted 17 aces and successfully landed 72 percent of his first serves to subdue Hewitt, the Australian champion of 2001.

It was far from a one-sided match, but Roddick, cheered on by a partisan New York crowd, managed to break his opponent at crucial times to keep himself ahead.

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The break at 5-5 in the second set proved one of the key moments of the match, especially after Hewitt had led for much of the set and looked to be getting to grips with the Roddick serve.

The third set was similarly close until Roddick broke with the score at 4-4, before closing out the match with a powerful, confident service game - to the delight of the home crowd.

LOOKING GOOD

Roddick is hoping to become the first American to win a Grand Slam since his own success at Flushing Meadows in 2006 and he admits he is feeling good.

"I feel like I'm hitting every serve pretty confidently right now," said Roddick.

"Maybe sometimes when you feel like you're not getting good slice on it or you're not hitting your kick that well, then you have to go to the fastball a little bit more.

"I feel like there are options are available to me right now."

Hewitt also praised Roddick's performance, and admitted that it was hard for him to get into the match.

"He came out serving so well at the start," said the 2001 Open champion.

"So you're sort of up against it right from the word 'go'.

“When he is serving so well he's obviously tough to beat.”

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