A bad season continued Tuesday for Andy Roddick as the American was forced to retire after injuring his knee in a second-round match at the Shanghai Masters. Swiss Stan Wawrinka advanced 3-4 after Roddick - next in the qualifying queue for a place in the eight-man World Tour Finals in London in November - hurt his knee at 40-all in the eighth game and immediately went to his chair.
The fourth seed was joined by ATP trainer Michael Novotny and a doctor, with Roddick stretched out on his stomach for treatment before giving up and shaking hands after 36 minutes on court. "The pain is at the back of the (left) knee, and it's enough to make me stop a tennis match. My concern now is to find out what we are dealing with," said Roddick after leaving court.
The injury could be a serious blow to the former number one, who lost a third Wimbledon final in July to Roger Federer, exited the US Open in the third round and last week lost in the Beijing first round as defending champion. Roddick was also forced to retire before Wimbledon at Queen's Club when he twisted an ankle in his semi-final against James Blake.
Three other seeds in Shanghai advanced after byes at the penultimate Masters 1000 of the season. Russian number six Nikolay Davydenko advanced over compatriot Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2. Davydenko has been on a run of form in the region, winning the Kuala Lumpur title and reaching last week's quarter-finals in Beijing. Chile Fernando Gonzalez, number 10, beat Brazil's Tomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4 while 13th seed Radek Stepanek stopped German Andreas Beck 7-5, 6-4.
In other matches, Roland Garros finalist Robin Soderling of Sweden beat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-4. French 11th seed Gael Monfils will face Australian Lleyton Hewitt after beating compatriot Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-2. In first-round play, Hewitt advanced 6-2, 6-4 into the second round of the Shanghai Masters over John Isner with the Australian's eyes firmly fixed three months into the future.
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