NEW YORK — Andy Roddick was discussing his retirement-postponing victory during a TV interview when a group of fans interrupted by chanting, “One more year! One more year!”
How about one more match? That, at least, is a given now.
Roddick’s not quite ready to quit just yet.
A day after surprisingly announcing the U.S. Open will be the last tournament of his career, Roddick dominated Australian teenager Bernard Tomic on Friday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium and won, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, to reach the third round.
“I had no idea what was going to happen out there,” Roddick said. “I’ve played a lot of matches and that was a different kind of nerves than I’ve had before, so that was surprising for me.”
The 2003 U.S. Open champion and former No. 1-ranked player took the time to look around the packed arena, eyeing people dancing in the stands during changeovers and taking it all in — in case this was it.
While the players warmed up on court before the match, the stadium announcer noted that Roddick was “competing in his final U.S. Open,” and so he let out a deep exhale, then lifted his racket to acknowledge the fans’ raucous applause. He made sure to pay attention to every detail.
“There are no guarantees for me now,” he said, “so I was trying to notice stuff.”
Roddick turned 30 on Thursday, and held a news conference to say he would quit after a season of injuries and poor results at Grand Slam tournaments. But he looked good against the 43rd-ranked Tomic, hitting 13 aces, including on the final point.
The match that followed, top-seeded Victoria Azarenka’s 6-0, 6-1 victory over No. 28 Zheng Jie of China, was reduced to an afterthought.
Other men’s winners Friday included defending champion Novak Djokovic, 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro and 2001 champion Lleyton Hewitt, who came back to beat Gilles Muller, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4.
The day’s biggest surprise was 18-year-old Laura Robson’s 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory over 2011 French Open champion Li Na.
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