Pre-Match Analysis
Day 9 - David Ferrer (ESP) [5] vs. Andy Roddick (USA) [21]
Head-to-head
| The fifth-ranked Ferrer holds a 5-3 career advantage over Roddick and has won four of their last five meetings dating back to 2007. Almost all of their encounters have come on hard court, where the Spaniard, perhaps surprisingly, still has had the upper hand. In their most recent matchup, at Davis Cup in Roddick’s hometown of Austin, Ferrer won in straight sets. Five of their eight matches have taken place in the U.S. | Both players are 29 years old and have played each other eight times going back to 2005. Roddick has beaten Ferrer twice on hard courts, in big tournaments: Miami (2007) and Indian Wells (2009). Most of the matches have been very competitive, with only half straight-sets victories. Tonight’s encounter is the first time the two players have met in a Grand Slam. |
Will win if...
| Ferrer is one of the best movers on tour. He can rally for days, but he is also a very clean ballstriker, and he can go from offense to defense quickly. A superb returner, he won’t be as bothered by Roddick’s big serve as many. If Ferrer plays his well-honed game that mixes offense and defense, he should win over the more one-dimensional Roddick. | Roddick needs to have a big night serving against the game’s best returner so he can win a slew of free points on his serve. Ferrer is a consummate retriever and one of the best movers in the game. Roddick needs to go big and try to end points quickly – but that’s not the way he’s been playing in the last few years, when he’s been more content to get into long rallies. Against Ferrer, that will put him at a disadvantage. |
Heading in...
| Ferrer lost one set in his opening match but has been on cruise control since. The Spaniard has won two titles in 2011 and been runner-up in three other events, and with this performance, Ferrer has reached the Round of 16 at all four majors for the first time in a calendar year. The Spaniard made the semis at the Australian Open and the last 16 at both the French Open and Wimbledon. | Roddick was tested in his first-round match, but has been gaining in confidence ever since. He's had a very poor 2011, which saw him dropping out of the Top 20 for the first time in a decade and surrendering his long-held position as the top-ranked American to good friend Mardy Fish. Roddick has had sundry injuries, and his only summer hard-court wins came at Winston-Salem, where he lost in the semis; he hasn’t been to the quarterfinal of a Slam since the Australian Open in 2010. |
Look out for...
| The Ferrer return game. Though one of the shortest top players on tour, he is a marvelous returner. If he breaks Roddick early, the American, whose own return game is his weakest feature, will have huge trouble getting back into the match. | Tiebreaks: Roddick uses his big serve to great advantage in breakers, and he has a vastly superior career tiebreak record (289-174) compared to Ferrer (82-94). If Roddick can hold serve and get to 6-all in sets, he may have the upper hand. |
Know this stat
| Ferrer is 14-9 in his career in 5-set matches; Roddick is just 13-16. The indefatigable Ferrer will be confident if the match goes to 5. | Roddick is on a 6-match losing streak against Top 5 players. With Ferrer at No. 5 in the world, it doesn’t augur well for the recently struggling American. |
X-factor
| The scrappy, hardworking and remarkably focused Ferrer is unlikely to be phased by the big stage or the home crowd (and five of his eight meetings with Roddick have been on American soil). Ferrer won convincingly against Roddick in Austin, Roddick’s hometown, in July. The Spaniard will be expecting a similar Davis Cup-like atmosphere here. | The 2003 US Open champion (and last American man to win a major), Roddick is already playing his third night match, and that’s his preferred habitat in Queens. The partisan night crowd will be a factor and, in a tight match, might be enough to help Roddick pull off the upset. |
