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Roddick survives Paradorn test ( 2003-07-01 09:57) (Reuters)
Andy Roddick withstood a fierce onslaught from 12th seed Paradorn Srichaphan to keep alive his Wimbledon dreams with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory in the fourth round on Monday. The fifth-seeded American had to dig deep to overcome an inspired display from the Thai and reach his first quarter-final at the grasscourt grand slam. Roddick, who is coached by Brad Gilbert, will next meet Swedish doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman. "I came in and Brad's philosophy is if you want to win a grand slam, you've got to win seven matches," Roddick said. "You've got to knock people down as they come and that's the approach I've taken." The 20-year-old is the only American left in the men's draw after 1992 champion Andre Agassi was beaten by Mark Philippoussis in a later match. Roddick, who had been broken just once in his first three matches, appeared to be hurtling towards his fourth consecutive three-set victory. The players had not even managed to finish the first game when they were forced off court for over an hour by heavy showers. But upon resumption, Roddick looked like a man possessed as he fired six booming aces on his way to wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes. But he came unstuck in the second as Paradorn, who was looking to reach his first grand slam quarter-final, stunned the bookmakers' favourite for the men's title with a stupendous display of power-hitting from the baseline. Taking a leaf out of the American's serving manual, Paradorn belted down scorching deliveries to leave Roddick staring up in the grey skies searching for an answer.
MOMENTUM GONE Attempting to break the American's serve for the first time in the match, Paradorn trapped Roddick at the net with a delectable drop shot before letting rip a scorching backhand cross-court winner to take a 4-2 lead. After clinching the set with an unreturnable serve, Paradorn had Roddick backed up to the wall at the start of the third. Serving became a liability for Roddick, who had to stave off numerous break points in the first two games. But having wasted four opportunities to break the American's serve, Paradorn's touch suddenly deserted him. Facing break point himself in the sixth game, a clearly annoyed Paradorn netted a forehand and banged his racket into the ground. With the momentum now having swung Roddick's way, he was determined not to let the match slip from his grasp and a 124 mph (199.6 kph) ace sealed the third set. Roddick put his foot down in the fourth and his 14th ace set up match point while a fizzing forehand crosscourt winner ended Paradorn's Wimbledon campaign. "He definitely could have taken that match over had he gotten one of those breaks," said Roddick, who had come off second best when the duo met at the Paris indoors last November "I was hitting a lot of second serves. I wasn't getting many first serves for about a four game stretch but I guess it was a bit up to him and bit up to me that I got out."
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