He came. He saw. He digested.
Bothered by an upset stomach brought on, he said, by an ill-advised late-night food run the night before, Andy Roddick, lost a semifinal match in Indianapolis Saturday.
But Tuesday night in Washington, after a sumptuous early-evening meal in cosmopolitan Washington, D.C. the night before, Roddick was in top form, handing Tomas Zib a 6-4, 6-2 defeat in his opening-round match in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
“Fortunately there are a lot more options at 8 o’clock in Georgetown, than at 1 in the morning in the middle of Indianapolis,” quipped Roddick who advances to the round of 16 Thursday against the winner of today’s match between Rockville native Paul Goldstein and Czech Radek Stepanek.
Roddick built momentum throughout against Zib, ranked No. 131 in the world. Roddick took control of the first set, breaking to take a 5-3 lead. After saving two break points, he blew a 135 mph ace past Zib to win the set.
The second set was all Roddick as he broke early and dominated his service games.
“You can’t win a title until you win the first round. That was the point of tonight,” said Roddick, 24, who is ranked No. 5 in the world. “I do enjoy playing here. I enjoy lots of different areas in Washington. This is the first tournament I ever did real well in — when I was 17 in 2000 [quarterfinal appearance vs. Andre Agassi].”
Roddick, who won the Legg Mason in 2001 and 2005, drew by far the largest crowd of the tournament so far as approximately three-quarters of the upper deck was filled. It was a fine night at the Stadium Court as 6-foot-9 powerhouse John Isner upset Tim Henman in three sets of power tennis, followed by local favorite Goldstein’s victory over NCAA champion Somdev Dev Varman.
The Legg Mason’s top drawing card, Roddick,was next.
“I hope they tell their friends they had a good time,” said Roddick.
