27/03/2012 11:56 CEST - Rassegna internazionale

Roddick, sgambetto a re Roger (New York Times)

After an easy first-round win at the Sony Ericsson Open on Saturday, Andy Roddick said, “I feel like something good is coming.” It did not take long for his premonition to be proved right. On Monday night, Roddick, 29, smashed three straight huge serves to close out an improbable 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4 win over his longtime foil Roger Federer.

After the last serve bounded harmlessly off Federer’s racket, Roddick put his arms in the air, clenched the handle of his racket and looked up. He pointed to the sky, acknowledging his Miami-based agent, Ken Meyerson, who died of a heart attack in October.

“My agent was from here and his wife was here,” Roddick said. “I felt like I was a crazy person, because I think I was having full dialogues with him the last 30 minutes of the match.” Roddick, ranked 31st in the world, had beaten Federer only twice in 23 previous meetings, including losses in four Grand Slam finals.

The win may signal a reversal of fortunes for Roddick. He was forced to retire with a hamstring injury in the second round of the Australian Open, and then was reinjured in his next match in San Jose. “I didn’t know if I meant this week,” Roddick said with a laugh when predicting his change in fortunes. “But I have been feeling better and I have been feeling healthy.”

Roddick’s unlikely victory ended a 16-match win streak for Federer that included titles in Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells. It was also Federer’s first loss to a player ranked outside the top 20 since June 2010. “You know, he’s still very good,” Federer said. “I’m happy to see him play really well.”

While Federer’s streak ended, the hottest player in the women’s game fought successfully to keep hers alive. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka trailed No. 16 seed Dominika Cibulkova, 1-6, 0-4, before rallying for a gritty 1-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 victory, improving her 2012 record to 26-0.

Cibulkova ripped through the normally impenetrable ground game of Azarenka. “It kind of felt like she closed her eyes and just went for everything,” Azarenka said. “And me, I couldn’t just really open my eyes.” Azarenka finished off Cibulkova in 2 hours 47 minutes after a forehand passing shot whizzed past Azarenka and then the baseline.