Roddick falls in 3rd round of Australian

Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova was upset
on the women’s side.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Andy Roddick ran out of ways to vent his anger.

He berated the chair umpire.

He cracked his racket.

He pulled out of a serve and yelled at the crowd to “shut up.”

He also reeled off a personal-best 42 aces — three in one game to save match points — but none of it unnerved Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open.

The 29th-ranked German won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 8-6 in a third-round match that started after 10 p.m. Friday and finished at 2:04 a.m. this morning.

“I took his best stuff for five sets and I thought I was going to get him to break or to fold,” Roddick said.

“I thought if I kept it on him long enough that that would happen. Tonight he played like a great, great player. There’s no doubt about that.”

In early play today, 18-year-old Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland upset No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4.

The 29th-seeded Radwanska, who won junior titles at Wimbledon in 2005 and the French Open in 2006, broke Kuznetsova’s serve at 4-4 in the second set.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, hit a forehand into the net on match point, allowing Radwanska to advance to the fourth round.

Rain delayed matches on all outside courts today, with play continuing at Rod Laver Arena and at Vodafone Arena, the other stadium at Melbourne Park with a retractable roof.

Roddick, seeded sixth, produced some impressive numbers, in addition to the aces. He made 72 percent of his first serves and committed only three double-faults. However, he broke his opponent only once.

“The whole match for me was perfect,” Kohlschreiber said.

“Just amazing, to start the year like this and beating such a good guy is the best thing that has happened to me in tennis.”

Kohlschreiber reached the fourth round only before once at 14 previous Grand Slam tournaments, and that ended in a straight-sets loss to Roddick.

For Roddick, this match had the feel almost from the start of his five-hour marathon against Younes El Aynaoui five years ago in a quarterfinal in Australia.

Then 20, Roddick won an Open era longest fifth set 21-19 in a match that finished after 2:30 a.m., also under the roof at Rod Laver Arena.

“Yeah, I thought about it,” Roddick said.

Roddick came into the tournament after leading the United States to its first Davis Cup title since 1995 and winning the Kooyong exhibition tuneup for the third straight time.

He left with his quest for a second major to go with his 2003 U.S.. Open title still unfulfilled.

“It’s rough, yeah, but that’s sports, man,” Roddick said.

“If you don’t want an emotional roller coaster, if you want to be serene and kind of chilled out all day, then get a job serving Margaritas at the beach.

“When you decide to be a pro athlete you’re going to have ups, you’re going to have downs, you’re going to have extreme highs and extreme lows. That’s just the nature of the beast.”

Amelie Mauresmo knows the feeling.

In the match immediately before Roddick’s, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion was ousted in the third round by No. 78-ranked Casey Dellacqua, who didn’t have a clothing sponsor until this week.

Mauresmo had 10 double-faults, including one to set up match point for Dellacqua, who finished off a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory with a forehand winner as the crowd burst into cheers for the last local hope in the women’s draw.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal saved six set points in the first against Frenchman Gilles Simon before winning 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.

The Spaniard faces another Frenchman in the fourth round after No. 23 Paul-Henri Mathieu rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 win over Austria’s Stefan Koubek.

“In every tournament, you have to overcome difficult moments. It’s important, because you feel the pressure,” Nadal said.

“It’s important to play in difficult moments and is important to have alternatives when the things are not doing very well.”