Andy Roddick fired 15 aces in a 6-4, 6-1 win over Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov to advance to the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Roddick controlled the second round match with his powerful serve, putting 71% of his first serves in play and winning 87% of first serve points.
His barrage of aces helped victims of devastating flooding in Australia’s Queensland and New South Wales states after he pledged to donate $100 for every ace he serves at the Brisbane tournament. Australia’s Sam Stosur, the No 1 women’s seed, made the same pledge but was eliminated in the tournament’s second round.
“A lot of the credit should go to Sam Stosur, it was her initiative, she came up with the idea and I was happy to follow her lead,” Roddick said.
Roddick, the No 2 seed, dropped his serve early in the first set on the Pat Rafter Arena, then served with confidence to sweep aside Dolgopolov in 57 minutes.
After breaking back at 3-4 down, the world No 8 won 10 of the next 11 games to book a possible quarterfinal clash with No 5 seed Marcos Baghdatis.
In other early matches, No 7 seed Florian Mayer of Germany beat Lithuania’s Richard Berankis 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Women’s results
Women’s No 4 seed Marion Bartoli of France beat Czech Iveta Benesova 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
Earlier, crowd favorite Jelena Dokic of Australia lost 10 straight games in a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Germany’s world No 32 Andrea Petkovic, a setback ahead of the Australian Open.
Dokic said later she was suffering from a stomach virus and had “nothing to give” in the 46-minute match. The former world No 4 said she overcame the virus in her shaky straight sets win over Russian qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova on Monday, but could not repeat the feat.
“I wasn’t in the match at all,” she said “I’ve been sick for a couple of days and I think it’s taken its toll.
“I went to a doctor and we think it’s a stomach virus I’ve had for two days.
“I don’t like to make excuses for anything, I never do, but when you’re playing a top-35 player you’ve got to have everything to give.”
Dokic said the loss would not affect her confidence ahead of the Australian Open and she would be fit and back on track for the Sydney International that starts on Sunday. — Sapa-AFP