Roddick, Federer remain on course for a showdown

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England

There were moments during Andy Roddick’s third-round match at Wimbledon when he could have allowed himself to get distracted by frustration.

Indeed, there was a time, not all that long ago, when he probably would have.

“You used to see,” said Roddick’s coach, Larry Stefanki, “negativity carry over and linger for a few games.”

Not anymore. The No. 5-seeded American let the second set slip away against No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, then quickly regrouped Friday, finishing with 28 aces in a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 victory to reach the second week at the All England Club.

“I’ve done a good job of not saying a word out there this whole tournament, just going about my business the right way,” Roddick said, “so I just tried to play the next point.”

Leading 5-4 in the second set, Roddick got to love-40 on Kohlschreiber’s serve. But Roddick frittered away all three of those set points, then lost the last three points of the tiebreaker, too. Did he let that bother him? No, he went out and broke to open the third set.

Then, still nursing that lead late in the third, Roddick badly missed a forehand wide, an unforced error he greeted with a growl. But that was it. Instead of losing his focus, he tightened it, winning 15 of the next 16 points. Later, on his first match point, Roddick sprinted forward and dived to try to reach a volley, but netted the shot. Five minutes later, he blew a second match point by missing a backhand. He didn’t flinch, though, and eventually ended things on match point No. 3 with an ace at 137 mph.

“He’s done such a better job over the last year of letting things go, and that’s what great players learn to do: They don’t let it bother them to the point of where it carries over. It’s a clean slate. It’s over. Nothing you can do about it,” Stefanki said. “Easier said than done.”

Stefanki believes that get-over-it-and-move-on attitude stems, at least in part, from the way Roddick handled his emotions during the 2009 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. Roddick nearly took a 2-0 lead in sets, wound up trailing 2-1 instead, then forced a fifth set before losing it 16-14.

“He made a huge step last year against Federer, and now, I think, he’s learned that he’s never out of it,” Stefanki said. “Against the best player, maybe, of all time, to be able to ... come back and say, ‘No, no, no, it’s not bothering me; I’m back to square one and playing every point as hard as I can’ — that match for him, mentally, is helping now, a year later.”

Seeking his first Wimbledon title at age 27, Roddick has lost three finals at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to Federer, and they are on track for a semifinal meeting next week.

After being taken to five sets in the first round, then four in the second, Federer was back to his best Friday, beating 2001 Australian Open runner-up Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

“Obviously,” Federer said, “this felt much better.”

Federer saved the only break point he faced, hit 29 winners and only 12 unforced errors, and was ushered off Centre Court by a roar of approval from the crowd.