source: www.usopen.org Roddick Crushes Corretja by Matthew Cronin Sunday, September 2, 2001 Rocking Ashe Stadium with explosive serves and fabulous forehands, American teen Andy Roddick aced his first major test at the US Open, overpowering 2001 Roland Garros runner-up Alex Corretja, 6-4, 6-2, on Sunday to gain the fourth round. Dancing around the court after powering his 16th ace to close out the dejected Corretja, the 19-year-old Floridian left the stadium to a huge round of applause. Joining Roddick in early day action was No. 4 Lleyton Hewitt, a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Albert Portas, and red hot No. 16 Tommy Haas, who stomped Czech Jiri Novak, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Not only did Roddick crack serves and crush forehands, but he returned serve about as well as he ever has at a Slam and volleyed with precision. Perhaps more amazingly, Roddick was able to hit through Corretja, usually a nearly impenetrable wall from the baseline, lacing 31 winners. The 19-year-old Roddick was the far more consistent player on the day, committing only 16 unforced errors to 31 from his foe. The German Haas is currently on a eight-match winning streak, dating back to last week's Hamlet Cup, where he beat up Pete Sampras in the final. With a huge first serve and powerful groundies, Haas has long been considered one of the heirs to German greats Boris Becker and Michael Stich. Yet he has never been able to break through at the Slams and, despite starting the year off quickly by winning in Adelaide, he hadn't reached the second week of a '01 Slam until today. Haas said he is playing at his highest level ever. ""Pretty much," Haas said. "I still think I can learn much more and do a better job of coming in more. I still hesitate sometimes. Other than that, everything is going the way I want it to. Sometimes on break points, maybe I'm not playing the way I wanted to, maybe too defensive. Other than that, I'm very pleased." |