Taiwan’s Lu stuns Roddick at Wimbledon

Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun sent Andy Roddick crashing out in the fourth round at Wimbledon with a stunning 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 9-7 win over the three-time finalist.

By (AFP)

• Follow us on
• 
• 
• 

Published: Mon 28 Jun 2010, 2:11 AM

Last updated: Mon 6 Apr 2015, 9:05 AM

Unseeded Lu broke Roddick’s serve just once in the game - in the deciding game of the final set - to become the first Taiwanese man or woman to make the last eight of a Grand Slam.

The 26-year-old, ranked 82^nd in the world, also became the first Asian man to make the last eight at the All England Club since Japan’s Shuzo Masuoka back in 1995.

He will now face Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the third seed, in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Lu, who let a 3-1 lead slip in the fourth set tie-break, said he feared his opportunity had gone when Roddick levelled at two sets all.

“I did not believe I could win the fifth set. There is no tie-break and he has a much better serve than me,” he told reporters.

“I told myself I had to fight and if I stuck around long enough something would happen. I wanted a chance to close the match.

“I told myself when I was in trouble they wouldn’t over play. I would stay with him - I took my time and took my chance and we were shaking hands at the end.”

This is Lu’s best Grand Slam performance - his previous best effort was a third round spot in the Australian Open in 2009 and he had never been beyond the second round at Wimbledon.

Lu had never beaten Roddick in three previous attempts and the American was reeling in the aftermath of his defeat.

A dejected Roddick said: “The fifth set was probably the best I played. But when you dig yourself a hole it is hard to get out of it when you give someone confidence.

“He did a good job controlling the middle of the court and he served much better than he has against me before. I had shots but I didn’t take advantage. My returning was really bad.”

In a match dominated by the servers there was only one break in the first four sets, coming when Roddick broke in the tenth game of the first set to go 1-0 up.

But Lu dug deep to force tie breaks in the next two sets, taking them both, the first 7-3 and the second 7-4, to take a 2-1 lead.

Lu had a break point at 2-2 in the fourth but a Roddick drop shot foiled him and the American finished the game off with his 21^st ace of the match.

The rest of the set went with serve until the by now almost inevitable tie-break. Lu was 3-0 up and had the match in his grasp, but Roddick recovered and had set point at 6-5 - taking it into the fifth set with yet another ace.

In the fifth game of the fifth set Roddick had two break points but Lu defended them and held his serve.