Tennis: Roddick survives scare in Shanghai

American made to fight hard; Nalbandian, Tomic advance as well.

SHANGHAI: A frustrated Andy Roddick dug deep to beat Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 at the Shanghai Masters to avoid an ignominious first-round exit.

The 10th-seed started the match in blistering form, breaking twice and racing to a 4-0 lead, taking the first set 6-2.

But the Taiwanese hit back strongly in the second set, striking a stunning two-handed backhand down the line to force a break for a 3-1 lead, which proved enough to level the match.

Clearly unsettled, the American voiced his frustration at noise in the sparse crowd, but he refocused and broke in the fourth game of the decider.

Roddick kept his grip breaking again to seal the match. He acknowledged that his opponent had given him a tough time.

“He plays so high risk,” he said. “Overall I thought it was pretty good, save four games maybe.”

Earlier, David Nalbandian eased into the second round, beating Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-4 while Bernard Tomic beat Kevin Anderson 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2011.