World number one Andy Roddick struggled after an emotional tirade over an overruled line call but recovered to defeat Spain’s Carlos Moya 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in Houston on Tuesday at the ATP Masters Cup.
The 21-year-old American launched into a heated exchange with chair umpire Mike Morrissey over a second-set ruling that led to the only service break he surrendered in the match, but the US Open champion recovered for the victory.
Roddick and second-ranked Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the French Open champion, are duelling for the year-end top ranking.
Either man can capture the crown by winning this season-ending showdown of the year’s eight top players.
Roddick, who had 14 aces, broke Moya three times in the first set, blasting the Spaniard with his powerful serve and superior shotmaking. But Roddick never did regain the dominance he had enjoyed after his verbal volley at Morrissey.
The turning point came in the second game of the second set after Roddick sent a backhand wide to give Moya his first break point.
Roddick hit a serve that he thought was an ace but instead was dubbed wide by Morrissey, touching off Roddick’s heated dispute over the debatable call.
”That’s how I saw it,” Morrissey said.
”You have to be blind then,” Roddick retorted.
Roddick then missed on his second serve, his double fault handing Moya the break for a 2-0 lead in the set, and was still livid at Morrissey after Moya held again for a 3-0 edge.
”You didn’t even question it. What’s wrong with you?” Roddick said. ”You blew it. You can’t sit still.”
”I haven’t got a good answer for you,” Morrissey said.
”No shit — 15-40, why didn’t you keep your trap shut, goddamnit?” Roddick responded. ”Seriously, you can’t sit still up there. You get the itch whenever it’s a big point.”
As he walked back on to the court, Roddick motioned to a ball mark on the court and added, ”Look at it. It’s right there.”
Moya took full advantage of the break to win the second set and had five more break-point chances but never broke Roddick again.
Roddick broke Moya in the eighth game of the third set, taking advantage of three consecutive errant forehands by the Spaniard for the break, then holding serve for the triumph, the last point coming when Moya sent a backhand wide.
Roddick, who seeks a tour-best seventh title of the year, also defeated Moya in their only prior meeting in August at Montreal.
Germany’s sixth-ranked Rainer Schuettler beat Argentina’s fourth-ranked Guillermo Coria 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the other round-robin Red Group opener.
Wednesday’s Blue Group schedule has first-match winners David Nalbandian and Roger Federer meeting while Australian Open champion Andre Agassi faces Ferrero.
Argentina’s eighth-ranked Nalbandian is 5-0 against third-ranked Swiss Federer, the Wimbledon champion. Nalbandian has beaten Federer three times this year, including the fourth rounds at the US and Australian Opens.
Ferrero, trying to become the first Spaniard to claim year-end world number-one honors, is 3-1 against fifth-ranked Agassi, the 33-year-old American just back from a two-month layoff after losing to Ferrero in a US Open semifinal.
Ferrero played his worst match of the year in losing his opener in Houston to Nalbandian while Federer rescued two match points in a last-set tie-breaker before subduing Agassi.
Schuettler took advantage of nine double-faults and 51 unforced errors by Coria to win in two hours and 25 minutes. After three consecutive breaks, Schuettler escaped a 0-40 hole by winning the final five points of the match.
”It was tough to get a rhythm,” Schuettler said. ”It was very warm and humid. It was windy and the sun was low. I was fighting hard and in the end the fighting paid off.”
Coria beat the Australian Open runner-up in their only prior meeting last year in the second round of the French Open, but an illness that slowed him two weeks ago in Paris has hindered his Texas training.
”I wasn’t feeling too good physically,” said Coria, who struggled with illness two weeks ago at a Paris event. ”If you’re not at your best and can’t practise the way you would like, that makes it difficult.” — Sapa-AFP