A Battered Roddick and a Hobbled Nadal Are Out

Source: NYtimes.com

MELBOURNE, Australia — What had been a very good week of tennis here for Andy Roddick — raising the hopes of his faithful fans that a second Grand Slam was in reach — ended abruptly when 14th-seeded Marin Cilic beat him in a back-and-forth five-set match, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3.

Early Tuesday, Rafael Nadal pulled up lame with a knee injury, as Andy Murray was putting a beating on Rafa, as the world’s second-rated tennis player is known to fans, in their quarterfinal match of the Australian Open. Murray, the scrambling Scotsman, had Nadal zigging when he should have been zagging. When Nadal withdrew in the third set, trailing by 3-6, 6-7 (2), 0-3, a changing of the guard perhaps was in motion.

Murray said he would have liked to make his dominating performance an unquestioned victory. But his play demonstrated that, sore knee or no, Nadal was not in the same league with him.

“I’m obviously disappointed that the match couldn’t have finished as I would have liked,” Murray said. “But with the position I was in, you know, I feel like I would have had a chance of going on to finish the match.”

Murray could not help but feel robbed when Nadal took his racket and went home.

“Unfortunately, that happens sometimes in sport,” he said. “You know, a win’s a win. Yeah, I obviously would have liked to have finished it off the right way.”

Roddick, seeded seventh, said he was battling a nerve problem in his shoulder. It was another impressive performance by Cilic, who bounced the United States Open champion, Juan Martín del Potro, in the fourth round. Roddick dropped the first two sets as he battled back the pain. He endured, however, to win the next two sets. When Cilic saved three break points in the first game of the set, then broke what had been Roddick’s forte, a money serve, Cilic went on to capture his third five-set match of the tournament to make his first semifinal at a major.

Roddick does not know the genesis of his injury, but said it had been bothering him for a few days.

“I felt it a little bit the other night, the cold weather, trying to hit through those for a little while,” he said. “I didn’t hit yesterday, and felt pretty good today in warm-up and the first couple games, then I think I aggravated something.”

Roddick had a trainer look at it but said the pain persisted.

“By the end of the first set, I was pretty numb in the bottom two fingers,” he said. “ I could still hit it pretty hard; I was just having trouble controlling it, you know.

“I started kind of almost going sidearm for a little bit, or at least what it felt like. That was working for a while, I think until he realized I was having trouble.”

Roddick gave all the credit to Cilic, but still wonders what might have been.

“I knew I wasn’t going to stop, but I didn’t know what I was going to be able to come up with,” he said. “To be able push it and have a shot, I thought it was a pretty good effort.”

On the women’s side, Zheng Jie, the first player from China to make the semifinals here, feels a certain amount of validation. She is playing brilliantly now, after leaving the Chinese state sports system to manage her own career and watching her ranking sink.

She beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia in thorough fashion, 6-1, 6-3, in her quarterfinal match on Tuesday, and will face Justine Henin, a player Zheng greatly admires and counts as a role model. She is glad Henin is back, but she could have done without meeting her in the semifinals.

Zheng has had success at Melbourne Park before, winning the 2006 doubles title here with Yan Zi. At 26, she knows about historic milestones: in 2008 she became the first woman to make the last four of a Grand Slam as a wild card at Wimbledon.

“It’s very amazing for me,” said Zheng, standing courtside at Rod Laver Arena, the center court here. “I won my first title in the doubles in 2006 on this court, so I feel this court is lucky for me and I hope I can go further forward.”

Since working with her husband, Zheng has a career-high No. 15 ranking. She has played big Grand Slam matches before — she also was part of a doubles championship team at Wimbledon in 2006. But Zheng admitted she needed to raise her game to another level against Henin.

“She is so strong mentally,” she said. “It’s tough for me, but I’m so happy I can play against her.”

Early Tuesday, Rafael Nadal pulled up lame with a knee injury, as Andy Murray was putting a beating on Rafa, as the world’s second-rated tennis player is known to fans, in their quarterfinal match of the Australian Open. Murray, the scrambling Scotsman, had Nadal zigging when he should have been zagging. When Nadal withdrew in the third set, trailing by 3-6, 6-7 (2), 0-3, a changing of the guard perhaps was in motion.

Murray said he would have liked to make his dominating performance an unquestioned victory. But his play demonstrated that, sore knee or no, Nadal was not in the same league with him.

“I’m obviously disappointed that the match couldn’t have finished as I would have liked,” Murray said. “But with the position I was in, you know, I feel like I would have had a chance of going on to finish the match.”

Murray could not help but feel robbed when Nadal took his racket and went home.

“Unfortunately, that happens sometimes in sport,” he said. “You know, a win’s a win. Yeah, I obviously would have liked to have finished it off the right way.”

Roddick, seeded seventh, said he was battling a nerve problem in his shoulder. It was another impressive performance by Cilic, who bounced the United States Open champion, Juan Martín del Potro, in the fourth round. Roddick dropped the first two sets as he battled back the pain. He endured, however, to win the next two sets. When Cilic saved three break points in the first game of the set, then broke what had been Roddick’s forte, a money serve, Cilic went on to capture his third five-set match of the tournament to make his first semifinal at a major.

Roddick does not know the genesis of his injury, but said it had been bothering him for a few days.

“I felt it a little bit the other night, the cold weather, trying to hit through those for a little while,” he said. “I didn’t hit yesterday, and felt pretty good today in warm-up and the first couple games, then I think I aggravated something.”

Roddick had a trainer look at it but said the pain persisted.

“By the end of the first set, I was pretty numb in the bottom two fingers,” he said. “ I could still hit it pretty hard; I was just having trouble controlling it, you know.

“I started kind of almost going sidearm for a little bit, or at least what it felt like. That was working for a while, I think until he realized I was having trouble.”

Roddick gave all the credit to Cilic, but still wonders what might have been.

“I knew I wasn’t going to stop, but I didn’t know what I was going to be able to come up with,” he said. “To be able push it and have a shot, I thought it was a pretty good effort.”

On the women’s side, Zheng Jie, the first player from China to make the semifinals here, feels a certain amount of validation. She is playing brilliantly now, after leaving the Chinese state sports system to manage her own career and watching her ranking sink.

She beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia in thorough fashion, 6-1, 6-3, in her quarterfinal match on Tuesday, and will face Justine Henin, a player Zheng greatly admires and counts as a role model. She is glad Henin is back, but she could have done without meeting her in the semifinals.

Zheng has had success at Melbourne Park before, winning the 2006 doubles title here with Yan Zi. At 26, she knows about historic milestones: in 2008 she became the first woman to make the last four of a Grand Slam as a wild card at Wimbledon.

“It’s very amazing for me,” said Zheng, standing courtside at Rod Laver Arena, the center court here. “I won my first title in the doubles in 2006 on this court, so I feel this court is lucky for me and I hope I can go further forward.”

Since working with her husband, Zheng has a career-high No. 15 ranking. She has played big Grand Slam matches before — she also was part of a doubles championship team at Wimbledon in 2006. But Zheng admitted she needed to raise her game to another level against Henin.

“She is so strong mentally,” she said. “It’s tough for me, but I’m so happy I can play against her.”

Early Tuesday, Rafael Nadal pulled up lame with a knee injury, as Andy Murray was putting a beating on Rafa, as the world’s second-rated tennis player is known to fans, in their quarterfinal match of the Australian Open. Murray, the scrambling Scotsman, had Nadal zigging when he should have been zagging. When Nadal withdrew in the third set, trailing by 3-6, 6-7 (2), 0-3, a changing of the guard perhaps was in motion.

Murray said he would have liked to make his dominating performance an unquestioned victory. But his play demonstrated that, sore knee or no, Nadal was not in the same league with him.

“I’m obviously disappointed that the match couldn’t have finished as I would have liked,” Murray said. “But with the position I was in, you know, I feel like I would have had a chance of going on to finish the match.”

Murray could not help but feel robbed when Nadal took his racket and went home.

“Unfortunately, that happens sometimes in sport,” he said. “You know, a win’s a win. Yeah, I obviously would have liked to have finished it off the right way.”

Roddick, seeded seventh, said he was battling a nerve problem in his shoulder. It was another impressive performance by Cilic, who bounced the United States Open champion, Juan Martín del Potro, in the fourth round. Roddick dropped the first two sets as he battled back the pain. He endured, however, to win the next two sets. When Cilic saved three break points in the first game of the set, then broke what had been Roddick’s forte, a money serve, Cilic went on to capture his third five-set match of the tournament to make his first semifinal at a major.

Roddick does not know the genesis of his injury, but said it had been bothering him for a few days.

“I felt it a little bit the other night, the cold weather, trying to hit through those for a little while,” he said. “I didn’t hit yesterday, and felt pretty good today in warm-up and the first couple games, then I think I aggravated something.”

Roddick had a trainer look at it but said the pain persisted.

“By the end of the first set, I was pretty numb in the bottom two fingers,” he said. “ I could still hit it pretty hard; I was just having trouble controlling it, you know.

“I started kind of almost going sidearm for a little bit, or at least what it felt like. That was working for a while, I think until he realized I was having trouble.”

Roddick gave all the credit to Cilic, but still wonders what might have been.

“I knew I wasn’t going to stop, but I didn’t know what I was going to be able to come up with,” he said. “To be able push it and have a shot, I thought it was a pretty good effort.”

On the women’s side, Zheng Jie, the first player from China to make the semifinals here, feels a certain amount of validation. She is playing brilliantly now, after leaving the Chinese state sports system to manage her own career and watching her ranking sink.

She beat Maria Kirilenko of Russia in thorough fashion, 6-1, 6-3, in her quarterfinal match on Tuesday, and will face Justine Henin, a player Zheng greatly admires and counts as a role model. She is glad Henin is back, but she could have done without meeting her in the semifinals.

Zheng has had success at Melbourne Park before, winning the 2006 doubles title here with Yan Zi. At 26, she knows about historic milestones: in 2008 she became the first woman to make the last four of a Grand Slam as a wild card at Wimbledon.

“It’s very amazing for me,” said Zheng, standing courtside at Rod Laver Arena, the center court here. “I won my first title in the doubles in 2006 on this court, so I feel this court is lucky for me and I hope I can go further forward.”

Since working with her husband, Zheng has a career-high No. 15 ranking. She has played big Grand Slam matches before — she also was part of a doubles championship team at Wimbledon in 2006. But Zheng admitted she needed to raise her game to another level against Henin.

“She is so strong mentally,” she said. “It’s tough for me, but I’m so happy I can play against her.”

Henin, a former world No. 1, advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday, something most thought impossible in only her second tournament back after a nearly two-year retirement. Though she has a sore thigh and a sprained ankle, and she has not been sleeping great, she could not be happier.

Henin was not as dazzling as she had been here at Melbourne Park, but she outwilled Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (3), 7-5, to eliminate the final seeded player on her side of the draw.

Petrova, a Russian seeded 19th, was hardly a slouch. She eviscerated the United States Open champion Kim Clijsters in 52 minutes, and she bounced Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year’s French Open winner and the No. 3 in the world.

She had faced Henin 14 times before Tuesday, losing 12 of them, but Petrova said the Belgian was a much more complete player after the time off. Henin, unranked and here on a wild card, beat Petrova at the Brisbane International in her first match back on tour on Jan. 4 after almost 20 months in retirement.

“She’s playing more aggressively,” Petrova said. “She’s playing closer to the line, really going after the second serves. I think she also did improve her first serve, as well.”

Henin was sluggish at first Tuesday, shanking shots that she had hit superbly in her previous match against her fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.

“It was difficult to find the energy today,” Henin, 27, conceded.

She found her groove in the tie breaker, hitting one winner after another. Petrova broke Henin’s serve in the opening game of second set and burst to a 3-0 lead. But Henin found a power surge, blasting forehands past Petrova and slicing backhands away from her. She won seven of the next nine games.

“At the end, I played much more aggressive tennis,” she said. “I didn’t want to go to the tie breaker. I wanted to close out the match.”

Henin did close out the match emphatically, and has finally opened herself up to a new possibility: an eighth Grand Slam final is within her reach. Last Sunday, looking at her draw, she could barely imagine that.

“I knew it was going to be hard,” she said. “Every match was a goal. So I never thought I’ll be in the semis. I dream to be in the final.

“That’s what I’m going to keep doing now, because now I can dream of being in the final of this Grand Slam, of course. But it’s still a long way. I just try to be focused on what I have to do on the court and hope it’s going to keep going this way.”