Andy Roddick

Paris: The No.8 seeded Andy Roddick reached the 3^rd round at the Paris Masters today and took a big step forward qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals by beating Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-4 in straight sets.

Andy never looked in trouble against Nieminen and didn’t face a single break point as he broke his opponent thrice. Only the top 8 players qualify for the ATP Finals in London from Nov. 21-28.

“Every match I win is significant for me at this stage,” Roddick said. “That puts more pressure on the players behind me. I have a pretty good shot no matter how I do here this week, but I think the last thing you want to do is be in that position where you’re at home cheering against somebody hoping that something bad happens to them.” said Roddick in a post match interview.

Roddick is in 8^th place in the rankings and will be guaranteed a spot at the yearend tournament unless Fernando Verdasco reaches the final in Paris or Jurgen Melzer wins the tournament. Roddick, who plays his next match with Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, lost only 5 of the 29 points played on his first serve.

Roddick who has made it to the semis twice at the Palais Omnisports, started strong breaking Nieminen immediately to take a 3-0 lead after winning his serve. The former US open champion then took Nieminen’s serve in the 6^th game with a crosscourt forehand winner and fired again in the 3^rd game of the 2^nd set when his opponent sent a backhand wide across the line.

Jarkko saved 2 match points but Roddick served 2 consecutive winners to seal the match. Roddick said that he was happy with the speed of the court, which is faster this year and suits his offensive style of play. “I think it has become so monotonous as far as what you get. Grass is slow and indoors have turned slow,” Roddick said. “So I think it’s fair…They have less time to return. If you actually stick a volley you get rewarded.” Roddick quoted.

The defending champion Djokovic overcame a slow start and an early break in the first set to beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets. The No. 2 seeded Serbian national struggled on his first serve but fended off 7 on 8 break points and took Monaco’s serve thrice. He’ll next play either John Isner of the United States or Frenchman Michael Llodra.

Tags: Andy Roddick, ATP Finals, ATP World Tour Finals, Finland, Jarkko Nieminen, Palais Omnisports, Paris Masters, Tennis, USA