Gamewatch: Roddick v Safin

Australian Open, Melbourne Park

Third round result:

A Roddick (US) v M Safin (Rus)

7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2)

GAME-BY-GAME UPDATES

By Lewis Wiltshire

Fourth set:

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2) Safin
Andy Roddick has beaten Marat Safin three sets to one, to win their third round tie. It's been a bit of an epic - not a five-setter but it's been going on for the best part of four hours and we've had rows, injuries, rain delays, and most importantly some brilliant tennis from both men. Good night to anyone Down Under; enjoy the rest of the day if you are in the UK; and if you are a Roddick fan in the States and got up in the middle of the night for this match, get yourself back to bed!

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 6-6 Safin
So we head once more for the tie-break. Roddick holds with some ease. The American must win the tie-break to win the match; his opponent must win it to take us to a fifth and final set.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 5-6 Safin
Now what can A-Rod do here? A break of serve would see him win the match, but Safin is calmer now, more in control after his earlier rows with all and sundry. And sure enough the Russian holds. Only a break of Roddick's serve by Safin can stop this set going to the tie-break now.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 5-5 Safin
It is, according to the commentators who are live right now on the BBC's red button services and on this website (UK users only), hot enough in Melbourne to ensure an uncomfortable night's sleep for those without air-conditioning. These two players will sleep well though, with or without air-con, after the effort they have put in here. Roddick holds for 5-5.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 4-5 Safin
A crucial game. Roddick at one point had two break points - to go 5-4 up in the fourth set with a 2-1 lead - and was ready to think about serving for the match. But Safin saved both of them, and another when Roddick earned advantage, before holding serve.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 4-4 Safin
A poor shot from Safin on Roddick's second serve at 0-15 lets the American off the hook and A-Rod makes no mistake, taking the game with ease from that point on. He might have done so earlier but for a successful challenge by Safin. The Russian's opinion of the umpire slumps yet further.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 3-4 Safin
Safin holds. Is this set going to a tie break, you wonder?

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 3-3 Safin
Roddick holds his service game in fairly straightforward fashion. Those children's charities mentioned earlier in this commentary are better off after another ace or two.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 2-3 Safin
Safin holds. Here we have two top players sharing an entertaining game. Roddick is composed, confident; Safin is all fire and passion. There have been mistakes from the Russian, but fireworks too. You do feel, however, that Roddick is possibly the more in control right now - of himself and also the match.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 2-2 Safin
More rows between the umpire and Safin, including the Russian swearing live on television. He needs to be careful - having been officially warned once, the next one will see him lose a point. Roddick holds - after another round of deuce-advantage-deuce - as the fourth set continues to go with serve.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 1-2 Safin
Safin holds his service game after an epic tussle. Several rounds of advantage-deuce-advantage make it the longest game of the match so far by a mile. Safin eventually clinches it.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 1-1 Safin
"The court is wet, the court is wet," Safin tells the umpire. He's still ranting and raving. You wonder how much he's using this to get himself fired up; after all, Roddick seems to think the court is fine. Roddick challenges a call in this match, and the decision goes in his favour. You can imagine what that does to Mr Angry at the other end. Roddick holds serve via a deuce.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 0-1 Safin
It's raining in Melbourne. Officials are now in the process of getting the roof closed on the Red Laver Arena. It shouldn't take too long, and gives Safin extra moments to nurse those injured fingers. Roddick has changed from a white shirt into a black one. Much less All England Club. While they shut the roof and mop the courts, an update on the crowds. One lady has a banner saying "Take off your shirt Andy", another has one which states "Roddick the Hottick". That's rubbish, that last one, if you ask me.

Now, another, more important update. The umpire has called "Time" but Safin appears to be refusing to play. He's saying the court is still too wet. Roddick is ready to play, but Safin is charging about, picking arguments with the umpire and officials. Roddick is calm; Safin is livid; the umpire has now given the Russian a warning.

The match finally resumes, and Safin is no less angry with the world. He submits another challenge, but this time it works, and the decision goes in his favour. The Russian seems to play better when he's angry, however, and he holds serve with some excellent shots.

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Third set:

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 6-4 Safin
Roddick now leads 2-1. Amazing how things can turn around. Safin stormed that second set and looked comfortable in the early stages of this third set. But one crucial break and a hold of serve and it's over.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 5-4 Safin
Poor old Safin is in the wars. How best to describe his latest injury? Put it this way, male viewers would have winced as a return by Roddick on a shot that had already gone out hits his unsuspecting opponent somewhere around midrift. It must have affected him - he gifts Roddick a break point and is then broken. Can Roddick now hold serve to win the set?

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 4-4 Safin
More treatment at the turnaround for Safin on those grazed fingers. The injury is clearly causing him some discomfort, but he will know that a break in this game will set him up nicely for a 2-1 lead ... However, Roddick blows him away with an impressive hold of serve.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 3-4 Safin
Jimmy Connors, the tennis great who coaches Roddick, looks very animated in the stands. Wonder what he'd say if he coached Safin, who sends down the most wild forehand shot you will see in a Grand Slam match. The Russian recovers to hold serve thanks to a lucky shot off the net at the end.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 3-3 Safin
A straightforward service game for Roddick, but he needs to break the serve of Safin if he is to get a hold on this match again. The Russian, despite having no skin on his fingers from that earlier slip, is still looking in control.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 3-2 Safin
After treatment on his grazed hand - having slipped on court - Safin holds serve. The plaster on his hand needs to withstand some Melbourne humidity and see him through this match.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 2-2 Safin
Roddick wins his service game to make it 2-2. Good morning ladies and gentleman, this is your early tie-break call ...

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 1-2 Safin
Here's a thing: someone in the crowd just called out: "Come on Borat!" Presumably this was aimed at Safin. Borat, the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy creation, is from Kazakhstan. Safin is from Russia. If you're going to shout stupid stuff out, make it at least geographically accurate. Safin, who hasn't even got a 'tache, closes out his service game.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 1-1 Safin
Roddick needs to do something in this game to lay down a marker, otherwise Safin is going to blow him off court. But a great return from Safin and then a sloppy shot from the American see him go down to 0-30. Roddick gets back to 30-30, prompting another spot of excercise for Safin's vocal chords, and A-Rod just about holds his serve.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 0-1 Safin
Safin is working himself into some fine form now. He has no problems in this opening game of the third set, winning it to love as A-Rod, dripping with perspiration, is made to scamper from one side of the court to the other.

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Second set:

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-6 Safin
Safin takes the set, breaking Roddick's serve for the third time in the set to seal it. Can anyone sniff a five-setter taking shape?

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-5 Safin
Safin wins his service game to leave Roddick to serve to stay in the second set. Nobody did much yelling in that game, except your correspondent, who is getting fired up for this live text commentary by giving his computer a jolly good talking to.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 2-4 Safin
Hilarious scenes at the turnaround as the umpire tells Safin he'd better not have been swearing in that last game when he was yelling to himself. No one knows what he said because it was in Russian. He insists he wasn't, but he's not happy. Wonder what the Russian is for "got the hump"? A double fault sees A-Rod yell. I know what he said: "Noooo"! Fired up, he closes out the service game.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 1-4 Safin
Roddick breaks serve, but it's too late to mount a comeback in this set, surely? Safin, a bit casual on a couple of shots, berates himself loudly and slumps back into his chair at the changearound.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 0-4 Safin
A quick word on these official challenges that players can make. If they believe they have been wronged by a linecall, it will be looked at again by 'Hawk Eye'. Roddick uses one of his in this game, feeling a shot from Safin was out, but the technology says it was in. For the first time in this match an unsuccessful challenge proves significant, as Roddick's serve is broken again.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 0-3 Safin
It was almost Groundhog Day at the Rod Laver Arena. Safin broke serve in the first set only to have his own serve broken straight back in the next game, and that looked like happening here with Roddick 0-30 up, but Safin storms back (using up another challenge to the umpire in the process).

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 0-2 Safin
Both players are pouring with sweat in the evening Melbourne heat, and we're only at the start of the second set. And Roddick is sweating more than his opponent as Safin breaks serve.

Roddick 7-6 (7-2) 0-1 Safin
A uniform update for those not lucky enough to be in the UK, where viewers can watch this match on this website and on the BBC's interactive 'red button' service. Roddick is in All-England Club white, while Safin has a garish yellow-and-black thing going on. Safin holds serve in the first game of this second set.

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First set:

Roddick 7-6 Safin
First set Roddick. The American takes the tie-break 7-2. Safin, incidentally, used up one of his challenges to the umpire during that tie-break.

Roddick 6-6 Safin
Last chance now for Roddick to do something before we head for the tie-break. Is he up to the task of breaking for a second time in the set? Well he starts in the right fashion, taking two of the first three points (albeit with one via a fortuitous net-cord) but Safin holds out to set up the tie-break.

Roddick 6-5 Safin
Safin points out that a flash in the crowd put him off as he loses a point, but in the very next point Roddick serves up the first double fault of the evening. At 15-30 things look briefly dicey for the American but an ace and two unreturnable serves earn him the game.

Roddick 5-5 Safin
The Russian is equal to the challenge of serving to stay in the set. Who thinks this set has been going to a tie-break from the warm-up?

Roddick 5-4 Safin
No problems for A-Rod in this service game. He wins it to love. Safin, the 2005 champion, will now serve to stay in the first set, in the Melbourne evening heat.

Roddick 4-4 Safin
Roddick breaks back immediately. This set looks like going to a tie-break after all.

Roddick 3-4 Safin
Roddick's last smash was impressive, but another one in this game goes straight into the net for 0-30. Another unforced error gives Safin three break points, but he only needs one of them, beating A-Rod to love off his own serve.

Roddick 3-3 Safin
The umpire tersely warns the crowd to take their seats quickly after the players take their refreshments, but the last people to get settled down are in the presidents' box. The upper crust are just in time to witness Safin win his service game with yet more money going to those charities thanks to more aces.

Roddick 3-2 Safin
After the first deuce of the match in the previous game, Roddick wins his service game to love.

Roddick 2-2 Safin
Another banner update. A woman in the crowd has a sign saying: "Andy can I plz have your towel?" Roddick shrugs off this mis-spelt creepiness to get to the match's first break point but Safin saves that point after a baseline rally, and then piles another $100 into the children's charity for two successive points to keep the match going with serve.

Roddick 2-1 Safin
A well-known credit card company is offering $100 to children's charities for every ace served in this championship. Every game so far has seen one, and there will be more before the match is out. Roddick serves another in this game, as he wins it to 30.

Roddick 1-1 Safin
No nonsense from A-Rod, who puts away a ferocious smash from Safin's attempted lob. Safin sends down an ace for 15-15, a delicate drop-shot for 30-15, and then two unreturnable serves.

Roddick 1-0 Safin
Some fantastic early stuff from the Russian gets him to 15-15 but a mistake at the net lets Roddick make that 30-15 and an ace ties up the opening game for the American.

The roof is open at the Rod Laver Arena for this, the match of the championship so far, despite some rain earlier in the day. Roddick won the toss and elected to serve first.

These days the TV cameras get everywhere, so as firstly Safin and then Roddick walk out of their dressing rooms, they have to conduct a short interview. Not too much to report from these. Safin basically said: "Good luck to Andy", which is either very sporting or a bit negative, depending on your point of view.

Sixth-seed A-Rod is due on court soon to take on 26th-seed Safin. It's a Friday night out in Melbourne and there's a buzz amongst the crowd. One banner says "Let's go Safinator". Another says "Hi Gran", but not everyone is good on slogans. A good match in prospect.