Andy Roddick continued his winning run to end world No. 3 Novak Djokovic’s title defense at the Indian Wells Masters Series event in California and set up a semifinal with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
Roddick’s 11th straight win, coming on the back of his 27th career tournament success in Memphis last month, came easily against the out-of-sorts Serbian who committed 30 unforced errors in a 6-3 6-2 defeat. But the American 26-year-old admitted he would face a tougher test against Nadal, who was barely stretched in a 6-2 6-4 runout against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro. “It’s a difficult match-up for anyone,” said Roddick, according to a report on the tournament’s Web site. “He seems to like this surface and it probably favors him. But with the way I serve, I think I’m always in there with a shot. I’m returning better, and I’m able to mix it up with my returns.” Djokovic admitted it had been a “bad day.” “There’s not much to say,” he said. “He played very solid. I mean, he didn’t do anything special. It was all me making incredible amount of unforced errors. I just didn’t have any momentum on the court. No feel for the ball, no movement. Just no solutions.”
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Nadal, who is seeking to regain a title he won in 2007, hit the practice courts straight after his win over 20-year-old world No. 6 Potro in preparation for Saturday’s clash with Roddick. “I just went to serve a little bit, practice a little bit more the serve, because I served well in the beginning, but later I had some mistakes and a little bit more the backhand. I wanted to play a little bit longer the backhand. But that’s it. I’m happy,” the 22-year-old Spaniard said. World No. 2 Roger Federer faces fourth-seeded Andy Murray in Saturday’s other semifinal.
