Roddick avoids retirement with win

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Andy Roddick returns a shot to Australia's Bernard Tomic Friday night. (CHARLES KRUPA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

NEW YORK -- Andy Roddick is not ready for retirement 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 from start to finish Friday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium and reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 victory.

"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."

Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and former No. 1-ranked player, took the time to look around the packed stadium, eyeing people dancing in the stands during changeovers and taking it all in -- in case this was it. But he will get to play at least one more time before walking away from professional tennis, against 59th-ranked Fabio Fognini of Italy.

"I look forward to it," the 20th-seeded Roddick said during an on-court interview with one of his former coaches, Brad Gilbert, "and I'm going to try to stick around a little longer."

By the sound of their repeated ovations, and the sight of all their camera flashes, the supportive crowd of about 24,000 or so would love to see that.

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 sure looked good against the 43rd-ranked Tomic, hitting 13 aces, including on the final point.

With that, Roddick flashed a smile as wide as can be.

"Oh, man. That was so much fun. I really appreciate that," Roddick told the crowd. "Thank you, guys."

Asked whether he got emotional while preparing for what could have been his final appearance as a professional tennis player, Roddick said: "I've been trying to be good all day. Had a rough patch there, about 15 minutes before the match. Made the mistake of walking by one of the TVs while they were doing slow, dramatic things. I assume it was set to an '80s ballad. It got me a little bit."

Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but Journey's "Don't Stop Believin"' (1981) was ringing through the arena as Roddick left for the locker-room.

Shortly after the match, a TV interview with Roddick was interrupted by a group of fans chanting, "One more year! One more year!"

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2012 C5