Sixth seeded Andy Roddick upset the second seeded Rafael Nadal 7-6 6-2 at the 2008 Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships to advance into the semi-finals. Roddick will now face a tough opponent in third seeded Novak Djokovic. Bodog.com has Djokovic as -250 odds favorite over Roddick who is listed as +180 underdog. Get your ATP Tennis Pick in now!
The centre court was electric as fans packed their way into the stadium in Dubai. Roddick was hoping his powerful serve would get the job done, and it did. One ace, which set up match point, was a tournament record at 241kph. Andy was down 3-0 in the first but managed to come back and win 7-5. After that Roddick was pumped and found it easier to break for 2-1 and 4-1. He needed to fight off two break points as he served for the match, and then closed out the match with two aces. His best finish this year came at the ATP & Grand Slam in which made it to the quarter finals. Roddick has been a much improved player ever since he hired Jimmy Conors as his coach. Roddick's style is that of an offensive baseliner. Roddick uses his powerful forehands and accurate first serves. His first serve is known to some as the "Roddick Serve".
Novak Djokovic had a much easier time beating Russian Igor Andreev. He finished him in 56 minutes winning 6-2 6-1, as he barely broke a sweat. Djokovic has a Grand Slam win this year when he won the 2008 Australian Open. He is one of the only players to beat world #1 Roger Federer, he beat him at the Montreal Open and finished runner-up to Federer at the 2007 US Open. He is currently 8-2 on hard court this year.
In head to head combat the two have only met once, which was at the 2007 ATP Masters Series Canada. Djokovic went on to win 7-6(4) 6-4.
Bottom Line: Djokovic knows how to play the strong powerful players, like Federer, and he’s just as good as they are. Djokovic has better game than Andy, but can he handle Andy’s’ first serve. Djokovic can handle it and he will Game. Set. Match. Djokovic!Get your ATP Tennis Pick in now!
