Another disappointment for Andy Roddick, the three time Wimbledon finalist lost 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-7 to unseeded Taiwanese player Yen – Hsun Lu in the fourth round. ESPN tells us that Lu was ranked only 82nd in the world compared to Roddick’s 7th place ranking, but none of that mattered in the tournaments second longest match, lasting four and a half hours.
With the victory Lu became the first Asian man to reach the quarterfinals since 1995, where Shuzo Matsuoka from Japan did it at Wimbledon. Â Lu had been slumping as of late, not winning a match in the past 5 grand slams, and being eliminated in the first round at the past four Wimbledon tournaments.
Even though Roddick had 38 aces compared to Lu’s 22, Lu was able to break through and hit big shots during the last game, where Roddick seemed drained and discouraged.
“I thought he served better than he has against me before,” Roddick said. “That being said, I had shots. I didn’t take advantage of them.”
This is another disappointment for Roddick, who seems to have a tough time winning the major events. Â Continuing the trend from his 3rd round exit in the 2010 French Open, and losing in the quarterfinals in the Australian Open, all to seemingly inferior opponents.
“It never gets easier,” said Roddick. “Of course I’m going to be [ticked] off when I wake up tomorrow. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn’t wake up the next day in a great mood.”
For Lu things don’t get any easier, advancing to the quarterfinals to play third ranked Novak Djokavic, he will try to knock off another top ten player. Â Before today, he had not beaten a top ten opponent since he beat Andy Murray in the 2008 Olympics.
For those of you surprised by this victory you are not the only one, Lu himself did not believe this could happen until it was all over.
“Fifth set, I don’t believe I can win, because he’s [a] better server than me,” Lu said. “But I just tell myself, ‘Even [if] I don’t believe, I have to fight.”
“I just told myself, ‘If I can stay longer, longer, longer, then probably something happens,'” he said. “And finally then I waited for the last chance to close the match.”
Lu’s coach claimed that sometime Lu is not mentally strong enough to pull off victory’s like this, but he obviously had the right mindset today. We will see an even tougher test in the quarter finals, and find out if Lu can keep his cinderella story going.
“He deserved to win more than I did,” Roddick said. “That’s for sure.”
