Andy Roddick celebrated his 30th birthday on Thursday by announcing his retirement as Roger Federer, the great Grand Slam tormentor of the American, eased into the third round at the US Open. Roddick, a former world number one, who won his only major title in New York in 2003, admitted his level was struggling to match the big three of Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and he will quit once the US Open is over.
"I have decided that this is going to be my last tournament," said Roddick, who is guaranteed an emotional reception on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night when he plays Australia's Bernard Tomic for a place in the last 32. Roddick, whose ranking is now down at 22 in the world, lost to Federer in the Wimbledon finals of 2004, 2005 and 2009.
That last All England Club defeat, an epic match which ended 16-14 in the fifth set, was Roddick's last memorable campaign and he has not got beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since. Top seed and five-time champion Federer reached the last 32 with an easy 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 win over Germany's Bjorn Phau and next faces Spain's Fernando Verdasco, whom he has beaten four times in four matches.
Federer, bidding to become the first man to win six New York titles in the Open era, clinched the 90-minute match with his 15th ace after also firing 44 winners past the 32-year-old Phau, the world number 83. "Andy's a great man," Federer said. "I had some great battles with him for a long, long time and all the Wimbledon finals come to mind. We had some epic battles over the years.
Serena Williams, the three-time champion, won her 60th match at the US Open, advancing to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Williams, the Wimbledon and Olympic champion, will next face Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, who beat her at the Australian Open this year. Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who was Wimbledon runner-up to Serena, almost suffered a fourth successive second-round exit before fighting back from a set and 3-1 down to beat Spain's Carla Suarez-Navarro 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Radwanska goes on to face Serb 30th seed Jelena Jankovic, the 2008 runner-up, who made the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino. French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the quarter-finals in 2011, was the highest men's seed to fall when he slumped to a shock 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 defeat to unheralded Slovak Martin Klizan.
Men's sixth seed Tomas Berdych eased past Estonia's Jurgen Zopp 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and faces America's Sam Querrey next. Spanish 11th seed Nicolas Almagro fought back to beat Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 with the German's challenge undone by 62 unforced errors.
American 23rd seed Mardy Fish, a quarter-finalist in 2008, beat Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, a semi-finalist in 2006 and 2007, in a gruelling five-setter. His 4-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 win was the 10th comeback victory from two sets-to-love down in the men's tournament this year. Results from the fourth day of the US Open on Thursday (x denotes seeding):
Men (2nd round):
Kei Nishikori (JPN x17) bt Tim Smyczek (USA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-4; Nicolas Almagro (ESP x11) bt Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Martin Klizan (SVK) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x5) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; Feliciano Lopez (ESP x30) bt Pablo Andujar (ESP) 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 7-5; Jack Sock (USA) bt Flavio Cipolla (ITA) 6-2, 6-2, 6-4; Mardy Fish (USA x23) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; Marin Cilic (CRO x12) bt Daniel Brands (GER) 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 7-5; Jeremy Chardy (FRA x32) bt Matthew Ebden (AUS) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; Milos Raonic (CAN x15) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4); Sam Querrey (USA x27) bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3; Tomas Berdych (CZE x6) bt Jurgen Zopp (EST) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Fernando Verdasco (ESP x25) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4; James Blake (USA) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP x24) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Gilles Simon (FRA x16) bt Jimmy Wang (TPE) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Women (2nd round):
Ana Ivanovic (SRB x12) bt Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 6-2, 6-2; Maria Kirilenko (RUS x14) bt Greta Arn (HUN) 6-3, 6-2; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x30) bt Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino (ESP) 6-4, 6-2; Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x13) bt Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3); Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) bt Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) bt Ayumi Morita (JPN) 7-5, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) bt Elena Vesnina (RUS) 6-3, 6-4; Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) bt Irina-Camelia Begu (ROM) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5); Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x2) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; Roberta Vinci (ITA x20) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Serena Williams (USA x4) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 6-2, 6-4; Sloane Stephens (USA) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4; Sara Errani (ITA x10) bt Vera Dushevina (RUS) 6-0, 6-1; Olga Puchkova (RUS) bt Kiki Bertens (NED) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5; Olga Govortsova (BLR) bt Johanna Konta (GBR) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5; Angelique Kerber (GER x6) bt Venus Williams (USA) 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.