Roddick battles hard to beat Llodra in second round

LONDON: Three-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick moved into the third round at Wimbledon with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) victory over France’s Michael Llodra on Wednesday.

A few well-timed charges to the net were backed up by excellent volleying as Llodra took a 3-2 lead with the first break of the match and then closed out the first set with an ace. Roddick was still on the back foot at the start of the second set and had to save two break points before finally holding serve.

Soon after, the pressure on Llodra began to increase and he cracked as Roddick broke at 5-4 to level the match. Llodra earned another break point early in the third set, but again Roddick held serve and the French made a host of mistakes to gift Roddick the set.

The fourth set was a tense affair as both held serve well. It went to a tie-break and Roddick was able to turn up the heat decisively as a series of booming forehands sealed the win.

Aisam, Bopanna advance

Pakistan number one Aisamul Haq and his India partner Rohan Bopanna have now qualified the second round of Wimbledon after defeating  Somdev Devvarman and Treat Conrad- Huey 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) during their men’s doubles match.

The Indo-Pak pair may either face 13th seeds Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles or the German-Slovak pair of Philipp Marx and Igor Zelenay in the doubles third round.

Venus strolls comfortably in third round

World number two Venus Williams eased into the Wimbledon third round as she defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 6-4 on Centre Court on Wednesday. World number 67 Makarova broke the five-time Wimbledon champion in the second set as she put up a spirited fight back but could not withstand Venus’ strong play.

Belgian eighth seed Kim Clijsters breezed into the third round at Wimbledon with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory over Karolina Sprem. Meanwhile, in-form Lleyton Hewitt was handed an easy path into third round as Evgeny Korolev pulled out due to injury with the Australian leading 6-4, 6-4, 3-0.

Earlier, Maria Sharapova stormed into the second round with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Anastasia Pivovarova, with third seed Caroline Wozniacki following suit by thrashing Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-1 in the first round on Tuesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2010.