| Tuesday, 24 June 2008 Written by Kate Battersby Sometimes a match that looks simple on paper doesn't quite turn out that way. Sixth seed Andy Roddick needed to draw on reserves of patience to get through his first-round encounter with 60th ranked Eduardo Schwank before winning through 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-0). It is just possible that the crowd on Court No.1 were not over-familiar with the Argentine's career to date. But it was obvious from the beginning that they found him an engaging competitor and cheered his spirited play to the last point. The 22-year-old had never played at SW19 before, only making his ATP tour-level grass-court debut at Nottingham the week before Wimbledon, when he notched up a single win. But he showed against Roddick that he has the potential to improve on his ranking of 60 – indeed, he showed it last month in his Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros where he beat former world number one Carlos Moya on his way to the third round. Not bad. Schwank is coached by Javier Nalbandian, older brother of David. The latter is a mate of Schwank's and they occasionally train together. The 2002 Wimbledon finalist was in the stands to watch Schwank here and it may have occurred to him that if only he had played his first round match on Monday with the huge heart exhibited by his fellow Argentine, then he might still be in the tournament. Throughout the 134 minutes of this match, the one commodity Roddick did not lack was a steady stream of break points. This was in marked contrast to his opponent who was unable to notch up a single one despite the closeness of the play. If Roddick could have converted break points as readily as he earned them, then the match would have been altogether briefer. But whenever Schwank was on the verge of being broken, he would stretch body and soul to save it, hurling himself about the court as if his life depended on it. As Roddick was to note ruefully after the match, Schwank was not a quitter. The net result was that Roddick converted just two out of 12 break points – just one in each of the first two sets being enough to do the damage. After that, when push came to shove in the third set tie-break, it was ironic that Roddick was able to close out the match in a manner that had eluded him in the regular run of play. He took it 7-0, delivering the final blow with an ace. On paper, the sixth-seeded Roddick should never have been in danger here, and this match always had about it the feel of a contest proceeding to an inevitable conclusion. If we accept the idea that Roger Federer's dominance on the SW19 lawns is truly under threat, then it is Roddick's belief that he must be among those who might challenge for the crown, given that he is a two-time Wimbledon finalist. How much he may be hindered by the troublesome shoulder that curtailed his clay court season is yet to be seen. Furthermore, his half of the draw contains last year's semi-finalist Richard Gasquet, Andy Murray, and a certain Rafael Nadal. Thus could be the start of a long road for Roddick.
| Court 1 - Gentlemen's Singles - 1st Round | |
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Match Statistics
