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ARTO11 · August 11, 2003

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Roddick cruises to TMS Canada title

Canadian Press

8/10/2003

MONTREAL (CP) - Andy Roddick took another step toward the top of the tennis world so many have predicted for him by winning the $2.45 million US Tennis Masters Canada tournament on Sunday.

Roddick, 20, overpowered unseeded David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-1, 6-3 in a rain-soaked final at du Maurier Stadium to claim his first Masters Series title.

``It's my biggest title so far,'' said Roddick after his fourth tournament victory this year. ``Hopefully, it will be a good stepping stone to the (U.S.) Open.''

The sixth-seeded Roddick earned $400,000 to pass the $3 million mark for his career. Nalbandian, 21, won $200,000 and remained without a title on the ATP Tour this year.

The start of the match was delayed one hour 35 minutes by heavy rain that drenched the hardcourt at du Maurier Stadium and drove a few fans home.

Roddick needed only 56 minutes of playing time to dispatch Nalbandian, breaking his serve twice to take the first set in only 26 minutes.

Nalbandian, who gained fame for reaching the Wimbledon final in 2002, had his only service break after losing his own serve to start to the second set.

But Roddick broke straight back for a 2-1 lead and led 4-2 when play was stopped for another 58 minutes because of rain. On his return, Roddick broke service to finish the match.

``Andy didn't have to do many things today,'' said Nalbandian, who was disappointed in his sub-par play after a week that included wins over Britain's Tim Henman and eighth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany. ``I couldn't play my game.''

There was little to excite the crowd, particularly after Roddick's thrilling win in a third-set tiebreaker on Saturday over Wimbledon champion Roger Federer of Switzerland in the semifinals.

With the win, Roddick moved up to fourth in the world rankings.

He also improved to 24-2 since taking on Brad Gilbert as coach in June, including wins at St. Polten, Austria, the Queen's Club in England and at Indianapolis two weeks ago.

``I'm feeling pretty good about my game right now,'' said Roddick. ``But from Day One of the U.S. Open, none of these past few tournaments matter any more.

``So while I'm playing some of the best tennis in the world right now, you have to guard against that. Once the Open starts, no one cares about Montreal any more.''

While Roddick's fortunes are rising, he had plummeting from great heights on his mind after the match.

Roddick said he won a bet with Gilbert by winning the event, which means the coach who turned 42 on Saturday will have to join his young protege in a skydiving jump.

``I've been four times already, but now he's got to go with me,'' Roddick said with a mischievous grin. ``He's scared to look off a second floor balcony, so it should be fun.

``He might mess his pants or something. This is going to be good stuff.''

Roddick also won a bet with fitness trainer Cicero Decastro.

``He's had his moustache for 20-something years and after (the semifinals), he had to shave it off,'' Roddick said of Decastro. ``Now he's going to have to shave his head, too.

``We're going to have the Brazilian Mr. Clean look-alike.''

Roddick then turned to the room full of reporters and asked: ``Any of you want to place some bets? I see a lot of hair to be chopped off.''

The big-serving American also beat Nalbandian in their only previous meeting in the Canadian quarter-finals last year in Toronto, where Roddick reached the final but lost to Guillermo Canas, also of Argentina.

Nalbandian, ranked No. 21, was attempting to extend Argentina's winning run on the ATP Tour to five weeks, after wins by Mariano Zabaleta at Bastad on July 13 and consecutive wins on clay courts by Guillermo Coria at Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel and Sopot.

Nalbandian was also hoping to become the third consecutive unseeded player to win the tournament after Andrei Pavel of Romania in 2001 and Canas last year.

The rain capped a wet week that caused delays during the first three days of competition and left an unusual number of empty seats at the normally well-attended event.

Tournament director Eugene Lapierre said attendance for the week was 157,398, about 8,000 fewer than turned out for the women's tournament, the Roger's AT&T Cup, last year in Montreal.

In the doubles final, the top-seeded team of Mahesh Bhupathi of India and Max Mirnyi of Belarus defeated Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Todd Woodbridge of Australia 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Woodbridge missed a chance to move into second-place all-time in career doubles titles. With 76 wins, he sits one behind John McEnroe and two behind all-time leader Tom Okker.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/news_story.asp?id=50183