Roddick Advances to AAMI Classic Final

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Andy Roddick looked pretty good on the new Australian Open court surface, using his trademark big serve to overwhelm Marat Safin at the tune-up Kooyong Classic on Thursday.

Roddick, who has won the last two Kooyong titles, got 62 percent of his first serves in and won 93 percent of those points in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Safin. He'll play the winner of Friday's match between Marcos Baghdatis and Fernando Gonzalez in Saturday's final.

The event marked the first test of the Plexicushion surface, which is being used at Kooyong and in the Australian Open beginning Monday, in hot conditions as temperatures topped 104 degrees.

Players had complained that the old Rebound Ace surface at the Australian Open became sticky and slow in such heat -- common at the year's first major -- and Roddick showed the new surface would not slow down the big hitters.

Roddick beat Federer in last year's Kooyong final before losing to the Swiss star in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. He thinks he's in better shape this year, despite a condensed offseason after leading the United States to its first Davis Cup title since 1995.



"When you're preparing, you want to get matches in," Roddick said. "You want to make sure you're playing well and getting used to the conditions and the surface, and this week allows me to do that. Maybe the short offseason was beneficial to my tennis -- I feel about as prepared as I have."

Federer, meanwhile, is less prepared than he has been at recent Australian Opens, having not played competitively this season.

He withdrew from the Kooyong exhibition event Monday because of a stomach virus, restricting himself to practice sessions as he attempts to win a third consecutive Australian Open and 13th Grand Slam title.

Nikolay Davydenko withdrew before a scheduled match at Kooyong on Thursday, saying he was struggling to cope in the heat, giving Australian alternate Brydan Klein a win by walkover.

Klein was a last-minute inclusion in the eight-man draw when David Nalbandian pulled out Wednesday after injuring his back in training.

Also Thursday, Murray beat Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2.

Safin has played only three tour matches since the last U.S. Open, and said his matches here against Andy Murray and Roddick were ideal as he bids to get back into the top 20 after slumping to No. 57 at the end of last season.

"It's hot out there and a lot of wind, so it's difficult to control the ball, especially when you are playing against a guy like him with a big serve," Safin said. "You need to be really fit and I wasn't at my best today.

"But I still believe I can play much better than that and I can bring my game next week."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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