WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina: American Andy Roddick suffered a third-round loss Wednesday at the $550,000 ATP Tour’s Winston-Salem Open, losing in straight sets to Belgium’s Steve Darcis.
Darcis, who made it to the third round of the London Olympics, outlasted fifth-seeded Roddick in a pair of tiebreak sets, 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (7/3) at the Wake Forest University facility.
The 28-year-old Darcis, ranked 81st in the world, was the last player to make the cut for the main draw.
“I didn’t expect this when I came here – I wasn’t playing well,” Darcis said. “I’ve played two good first matches and now I have played well, serving well and trying to be aggressive when I could. Of course, it is a good win before the U.S. Open.”
He faces second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic next, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
The tournament serves as a warm-up event for next week’s U.S. Open.
Roddick, a former world No. 1 and ex-U.S. Open champion, is struggling heading into the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.
“I served okay, but I didn’t return too well,” Roddick said. “I didn’t hit the ball clean and he played better when he had to. I wanted to play better here.”
Roddick lost early at last week’s Cincinnati Masters tournament, where he complained of back problems, and he has now lost three of his last four matches after winning five straight, including a title in Atlanta.
Fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-3 6-4 win over Argentina’s David Nalbandian.
Seventh-seeded American Sam Querrey continued his run of good form with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Querrey will meet Dolgopolov in the quarterfinals Thursday. Defending champion John Isner overcame two rain delays to advance in straight sets. The third-seeded Isner, ranked 10th in the world, needed only 71 minutes to beat 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
In the WTA’s New Haven Open, reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki and second seed Petra Kvitova advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-set victories.
Kvitova, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, easily defeated American Nicole Gibbs, 6-2 6-4, to advance to Thursday’s quarters.
She will face eighth-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova next, who crushed China’s Zheng Jie, 6-4 6-0.
Former world No. 1 Wozniacki, who is seeded third and seeking her fifth straight title at the event, improved to 19-0 lifetime in New Haven with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 victory over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
Denmark’s Wozniacki, who defeated Czech Petra Cetkovska in last year’s New Haven final, will meet Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
Sixth-seeded Cibulkova won 6-4 6-1 over German Andrea Petkovic, who has battled injuries for most of the year.
This was Petkovic’s first tournament in nearly four months and only her fourth event of the season after entering 2012 ranked 10th in the world. Petkovic said it was going to take some time to get her match conditioning back. Meanwhile, Cibulkova claimed she was ready to face Wozniacki, who leads their head-to-head series 7-3.
“We know each other really well,” Cibulkova said. “She’s a year younger but we traveled to all the same junior tournaments and played many matches against each other.
“I know the way she’s playing, and she knows how I’m playing. It’s two different styles as well – she’s the defensive player and I’m the offensive player going for my shots. It’s going to be a really good match.”
Darcis, who made it to the third round of the London Olympics, outlasted fifth-seeded Roddick in a pair of tiebreak sets, 7-6 (8/6) 7-6 (7/3) at the Wake Forest University facility.
The 28-year-old Darcis, ranked 81st in the world, was the last player to make the cut for the main draw.
“I didn’t expect this when I came here – I wasn’t playing well,” Darcis said. “I’ve played two good first matches and now I have played well, serving well and trying to be aggressive when I could. Of course, it is a good win before the U.S. Open.”
He faces second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic next, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen.
The tournament serves as a warm-up event for next week’s U.S. Open.
Roddick, a former world No. 1 and ex-U.S. Open champion, is struggling heading into the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.
“I served okay, but I didn’t return too well,” Roddick said. “I didn’t hit the ball clean and he played better when he had to. I wanted to play better here.”
Roddick lost early at last week’s Cincinnati Masters tournament, where he complained of back problems, and he has now lost three of his last four matches after winning five straight, including a title in Atlanta.
Fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-3 6-4 win over Argentina’s David Nalbandian.
Seventh-seeded American Sam Querrey continued his run of good form with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Querrey will meet Dolgopolov in the quarterfinals Thursday. Defending champion John Isner overcame two rain delays to advance in straight sets. The third-seeded Isner, ranked 10th in the world, needed only 71 minutes to beat 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
In the WTA’s New Haven Open, reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki and second seed Petra Kvitova advanced to the quarterfinals with straight-set victories.
Kvitova, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, easily defeated American Nicole Gibbs, 6-2 6-4, to advance to Thursday’s quarters.
She will face eighth-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova next, who crushed China’s Zheng Jie, 6-4 6-0.
Former world No. 1 Wozniacki, who is seeded third and seeking her fifth straight title at the event, improved to 19-0 lifetime in New Haven with a 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 victory over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
Denmark’s Wozniacki, who defeated Czech Petra Cetkovska in last year’s New Haven final, will meet Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
Sixth-seeded Cibulkova won 6-4 6-1 over German Andrea Petkovic, who has battled injuries for most of the year.
This was Petkovic’s first tournament in nearly four months and only her fourth event of the season after entering 2012 ranked 10th in the world. Petkovic said it was going to take some time to get her match conditioning back. Meanwhile, Cibulkova claimed she was ready to face Wozniacki, who leads their head-to-head series 7-3.
“We know each other really well,” Cibulkova said. “She’s a year younger but we traveled to all the same junior tournaments and played many matches against each other.
“I know the way she’s playing, and she knows how I’m playing. It’s two different styles as well – she’s the defensive player and I’m the offensive player going for my shots. It’s going to be a really good match.”