Most interesting quote from this article: "I had great rhythm on my serve,'' Arthurs said. ''And I felt I was picking his serve pretty well. I've watched him enough to know where he goes on the big points.''
From The Commercial Appeal: Roddick survives vs. Arthurs
He's survived 51 aces, five tiebreakers and a match point in two days to be the first to advance to the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships quarterfinals, so if top seed Andy Roddick is taking today off, well, who can blame him?
He's earned the reprieve.
After sidestepping an upset bid from close friend Mardy Fish in an opening-round match Tuesday, Roddick outlasted hard-serving Australian Wayne Arthurs, 6-7(4), 7-6(9), 7-6(2) Wednesday night before a near-capacity crowd at The Racquet Club.
Arthurs, a 34-year-old lefthander, fired 33 aces and had a match point in the second-set tiebreaker, but was unable to convert. In the third-set tiebreaker, Roddick, who finished with 20 aces of his own, got back-to-back minibreaks to take a 5-2 lead and close the match without the drama that characterized the first two tiebreakers.
Roddick, the world's third-ranked player, said he was simply relieved to live to exchange groundstrokes another day.
''I was lucky to get through,'' Roddick said. ''I didn't think anybody could serve better than Mardy did (Tuesday), but (Arthurs) did. He served huge. I didn't even feel like I had a chance on his service points. I guess there's something to be said for just hanging around and playing.''
Arthurs, an accomplished doubles player, called it his best match of the year. He was broken only once in 18 service games and faced only two breaks points.
''I had great rhythm on my serve,'' Arthurs said. ''And I felt I was picking his serve pretty well. I've watched him enough to know where he goes on the big points.''
But as strong as Arthurs played, his inability to convert two break point chances with Roddick serving at 3-4 in the second set probably cost him one of the biggest wins of his 16-year career.
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