Indianapolis, July 25: World number five Andy Roddick admitted he has still not accepted his shattering quarter-final loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon earlier this month.
''I don't know if I am over it yet,'' Roddick told reporters, after posting a 6-4 6-0 first-round win over fellow American Alex Kuznetsov at the Indianapolis Championships yesterday.
''I was pretty down. It was one of my most disappointing losses of my career because I thought I was playing well enough to have a shot (at winning the title).'' Roddick said he did not play tennis for a week after being upset by Gasquet in a match where he held a two-set lead and was up a service break in the third set before losing two tie-breakers and then the deciding fifth set 8-6.
Roddick believes the reason he is preoccupied by the match is that he felt he was playing top-flight tennis.
''Because I was disappointed doesn't mean that I thought I didn't play well,'' said Roddick, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2004 and 2005. ''His stats were 94 winners and only 28 errors - that's absurd.
''The best therapy for me is to get back out there and present myself with a mini challenge. This is a good time to start.'' Roddick is happy to be starting his US hard court summer swing this week in Indianapolis, where he is the top seed.
The summer has usually been a successful season for Roddick.
In addition to winning the 2003 U.S. Open, he has won seven summer hard court titles since joining the ATP tour in 2000 - he won twice in Indianapolis, twice in Washington, twice in Cincinnati and once in Montreal.
''I've traditionally done pretty well at this time of the year and pretty much have won all the tournaments during this time of the year. So it's very easy to prepare to go back to places I've played good. I enjoy this time of the year.
''So it bodes well for optimism in this little head of mine.''
Reuters
>
''I don't know if I am over it yet,'' Roddick told reporters, after posting a 6-4 6-0 first-round win over fellow American Alex Kuznetsov at the Indianapolis Championships yesterday.
''I was pretty down. It was one of my most disappointing losses of my career because I thought I was playing well enough to have a shot (at winning the title).'' Roddick said he did not play tennis for a week after being upset by Gasquet in a match where he held a two-set lead and was up a service break in the third set before losing two tie-breakers and then the deciding fifth set 8-6.
Roddick believes the reason he is preoccupied by the match is that he felt he was playing top-flight tennis.
''Because I was disappointed doesn't mean that I thought I didn't play well,'' said Roddick, who reached the Wimbledon final in 2004 and 2005. ''His stats were 94 winners and only 28 errors - that's absurd.
''The best therapy for me is to get back out there and present myself with a mini challenge. This is a good time to start.'' Roddick is happy to be starting his US hard court summer swing this week in Indianapolis, where he is the top seed.
The summer has usually been a successful season for Roddick.
In addition to winning the 2003 U.S. Open, he has won seven summer hard court titles since joining the ATP tour in 2000 - he won twice in Indianapolis, twice in Washington, twice in Cincinnati and once in Montreal.
''I've traditionally done pretty well at this time of the year and pretty much have won all the tournaments during this time of the year. So it's very easy to prepare to go back to places I've played good. I enjoy this time of the year.
''So it bodes well for optimism in this little head of mine.''
Reuters
>
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