Andy Roddick was backing his conqueror Stanislas Wawrinka to provide Roger Federer with a real test in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Roddick was completely outplayed in the fourth round by the in-form Swiss, going down in straight sets and the American admitted it was pretty frustrating but the conditions were not in his favour.
“Couldn't get the rallies to go my way,” Roddick said. “I was trying to stand up in the court and, you know, I just felt when I adjusted my positioning up in the court he was opening up the lines and making it a shorter line if that makes sense.”
“I didn't have the ability to run back. Conditions were colder, so slice wasn't really working. I wasn't able to get the ball to jump much, so a lot of the shots he hit were in his pocket and I was having a hard time getting it out of that zone.”
Roddick is still backing defending champion Federer to progress but he feels that with Wawrinka in this form it could be a fascinating match.
“When Stan's on, he's able to hit a big ball. It's almost better when the conditions are slower. His swings are big, but he has time to time them and switch directions. You know, so it'll be interesting to see how Roger counters that,” Roddick mused. “Roger is better playing forward than I normally am, also. So he'll be able to impose himself on Stan a little bit more probably.”
