Four-time champion Roger Federer takes on Andy Roddick for the 23rd time on the tour.
It hasn't been easy for Federer so far this week and he had a tussle with in-form Jarkko Nieminen in the second round on Wednesday, eventually overcoming the Finn 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
“He was obviously finding his range better, playing a bit better and getting better rhythm as the match went on since he’s a baseliner,” Federer said. “It was due to my ups and downs that he found a chance in the second set, but then I found my range again on the serve in the third set and was basically in control. It was still a good match, I thought, for me to come through and I had some very good moments. All in all I’m pretty pleased.”
Roddick still has a very slim chance of making the ATP World Tour finals and he kept those hopes alive with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Radek Stepanek. However Roddick knows he will need to serve a lot better to stand a chance against Federer.
"I was frustrated that I didn’t get more first serves in court, but regardless of how badly you play in set one, it’s still only one set and I just tried to remind himself of that and luckily I played better in the last two," Roddick said after battling past the Czech. "I thought he had a pretty good serving day, so to be able to break four times was good for me. Obviously it’s a tall order [against Federer], but I’ll go out there and give it a go and hopefully come out on top."
Federer's record against Roddick has been well documented and he won easily 6-2, 6-4 when they met in the Basel semis last year.
