Roddick sweeps past Stepanek
Tuesday, 12 June 2007 15:08Big-hitting American Andy Roddick powered into the third round of the Artois Championships with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Czech Radek Stepanek.
Roddick, a three-times winner at Queen's Club and twice a Wimbledon runner-up, blasted Stepanek out of contention with a series of aces and booming shots from the baseline.
After suffering a first-round defeat at the French Open, the 24-year-old second seed enjoyed his transition to grass with an emphatic triumph on centre court.
Stepanek, watched from the stands by his fiancee Martina Hingis, provided dogged resistance throughout but was swept aside when Roddick found his range, hitting one 149mph serve.
Roddick won his early service games with ease but Stepanek, whose first-round opponent, Italy's Davide Sanguinetti, retired with a knee injury yesterday, lacked the same accuracy, missing many of his first serves.
The 28-year-old showed some nice touches, however, moving to the net as often as possible and manoeuvring Roddick around the court with a series of well-placed shots.
Two thunderous passing shots in the seventh left Stepanek stranded at the net and handed Roddick a break point which he took when his opponent hit long.
When the American, a semi-finalist at this year's Australian Open, cranked up the power Stepanek had no answer and he went on to take the set two games later.
The opening six games of the second set went with service but when Stepanek suffered a wobble in the seventh, Roddick slipped at a crucial moment and failed to break.
But he succeeded in the ninth, hitting a fierce return which his opponent could only deflect into the net to break and then he completed the victory without conceding another point.
Roddick, ranked five in the world, now faces the winner of Jamie Baker's all-British clash with Alex Bogdanovic in the third round.
