ATP Atlanta: Wednesday Roundup

Coverage

2012

BB&T Atlanta Open

Thursday, 19 July 2012 09:44

ATP Atlanta: Wednesday Roundup

Written by Christina Ward

Rain, Rain, Go Away
Thunderstorms interrupted play for a third day in a row, with an almost five-hour delay on Wednesday afternoon and evening. How did Andy Roddick pass the time? "I looked out the window and watched the rain fall in the pool," Roddick joked. Roddick was surprised his match against Nicolas Mahut on Stadium Court was bumped up ahead of Michael Russell versus Kevin Anderson, who had already played two games before the rain delay, but he was happy he was able to finish the match on its scheduled day.

Rain Delay Entertainment
There were a few very vocal fans in the crowd Wednesday night who would sometimes shout right before the players served. Some of the fans might have taken advantage of the Corona tent on the grounds and the surrounding bars during the long delay. "I think you could tell what the rain delay activity was. People might have been indulging a little bit," Roddick said.

Revenge Match
Roddick lost his first match in five meetings against Mahut at this year's Roland Garros, but he was not too worried about that loss coming into their meeting in Atlanta. "I thought about it a little bit, but the conditions are so different. I'm not real comfortable on clay, and I don't think that's a secret. Obviously coming back here on home turf it's just a different scenario. I thought about it [with] the way the points were constructed and it's just different when the surface is different, so I didn't put too much thought into it," Roddick said. Roddick was up an early break at 4-2 in the first set, but Mahut was able to break back at 4-3 as Roddick played more defensively and missed an easy overhead volley. In the first set tiebreak, all points were played to serve except one, when Roddick was able to pass Mahut when the latter charged the net. In the second set, Roddick broke at 4-3 and served out the match to win 7-6(4), 6-3.

American Pride
Roddick really likes his new red, white and blue Babolat shoes that were specially made for the Olympics this year. "I think it fits the US Open series and the Olympics. We came up with the idea for the Olympics but I think it's fitting to come back and wear them here and especially the US Open. I like them, so I'm going to wear them for a little bit," Roddick said.