Andy Roddick’s European clay court woes continued today, falling in straight sets to Gilles Simon, 6-3 6-3, at the Italian Open Masters 1000 in Rome.
Roddick lost in the 1st round for the second consecutive week-- he was also beaten in his opening match last week in Madrid. The American committed 27 unforced errors to only 9 winners--a recipe for disaster against a quality clay court player like Simon. Roddick was not able to win many quick points, as he so often does on quicker surfaces, firing only one ace on a blustery day.
“As soon as we got into rallies, it became a battle of not really ball striking but movement,” Roddick said. “I was coming in second most times.”
The opening set was book-ended by breaks of serve for the Frenchman, who came into the match as the consensus favorite despite his lower ranking. Roddick had few opportunities to do any damage to the Simon serve, and when he did get close, at 30-30 in the 8th game, the 19th-ranked Simon calmly closed out the game with two aces.
Roddick appeared to be headed in the right direction to open the second set, breaking Simon. But just as quickly as his advantage materialized, it vanished; Simon won 12 of the next 15 points to take control of the match.
“I feel great physically,” he said after the match. “I feel fine, there’s no excuses.”
Roddick has struggled to win matches on clay throughout his career, but it has been a disappointing season for him in general since winning the title in Memphis in February. A staple in the top ten over the last decade, Roddick’s ranking has slipped to No. 12 after a sub-par performance on the American hard courts this spring. Roddick has not won a match since beating Isner in the 3rd round at Indian Wells in March. He lost his first match in Miami, as defending champion, to Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in straight sets.
“Nobody likes losing,” the former world No. 1 explained. “I’m trying at the moment, but the last couple of weeks I haven’t felt comfortable.”
The American will play in Nice next week, the last chance to fine-tune his clay court game before the French Open. With most of the top players electing to take the week off before Roland Garros, Roddick should have the chance to improve his comfort level on the slow European red clay against lesser competition.
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