SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Andy Roddick turned some heads when, just days before the SAP Open, he said he planned “on hopefully being in some semifinals down the road.” It seemed out of character for such a cocksure competitor, one who spent the better part of a decade inside the top 10; one who has appeared in four Grand Slam finals; one who has experienced the rarified air of No. 1. But as he approaches his 30th birthday, and with a variety of injuries beginning to limit his court time, the man who is nearing the 600-win mark might be tempering his goals just a bit.
Unfortunately for Roddick, he’ll have to venture a bit further down that road to reach his first semifinal of 2012. On Friday night, in only his fourth match of the year, he was simply outplayed by Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who controlled the match from beginning to end in a 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal win.
“He played better than I did in every aspect,” said Roddick, who sported ankle supports after collapsing to the court during his second-round comeback against another Denis — American Denis Kudla — two nights earlier. “I was hoping to be able to serve my way into it. That didn’t work. I didn’t serve well. From there, it was tough.”
Roddick was out-aced 6-5 in the one-hour/16-minute match, and won just 38 of 68 service points. Istomin, meanwhile, won 78 percent of his first-serve points and fended off the only break point he faced.
“I thought he served a little bit above what I had known,” said Roddick, who was none too pleased following the loss, clearly frustrated by his inability to get 100 percent healthy. “He hits the ball flat through the court and likes to hit lines.”
Istomin was in control from the first ball struck, breaking his 29-year-old opponent in the first game of the match. Roddick had a chance to immediately break back, but Istomin held on for the early 2-0 edge and was never really pressured on his serve thereafter. The 25-year-old, who hadn’t registered a top-20 win in nearly two years, scored the only break he would need at 2-2 in the second set when a long Roddick forehand sailed beyond the baseline.
“You can see I really like to play here,” said the 61st-ranked Istomin, who has now reached the quarterfinals or better in San Jose on three occasions but is still seeking his first ATP Tour title.
Asked what he will take away from his two matches here, Roddick deadpanned, “Not much. There’s certainly a significant gap from where I am and where I need to be.”
Istomin awaits the winner of the Julien Benneteau–Steve Darcis quarterfinal.
Earlier on Friday, defending champ Milos Raonic took another step toward a successful title defense with a 7-5, 7-6(3) quarterfinal win over South African Kevin Anderson. Raonic never faced a break point and smacked 16 aces in scoring his ninth win of the season. In Saturday’s semifinals, he will face on-the-rise 19-year-old American Ryan Harrison, ranked No. 94, in a battle of young guns. They met once before, in Indian Wells last year, with Harrison scoring a third-round win. Harrison advanced in San Jose with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bulgarian qualifier Dimitar Kutrovsky.
