Andy Roddick continues his Basel campaign against Andrey Golubev later today.
Bet365 are broadcasting Roddick v Golubev live for free from ATP Basel at 17.00 GMT
Despite his three week layoff, Roddick looked as sharp as ever during his first round clash with Sam Querrey earlier this week. He needed to be too as Querrey pushed him all the way in a big serving encounter, Roddick only just edging it 7-5, 7-6.
“I thought it was a really good match both ways, I thought it was good tennis, good points," Roddick told the press afterwards. "I had to work; the second set tie-break was very hard. It was a very high level in terms of both guys getting a lot of first serves in; the unforced errors were pretty low. So I’m very pleased with how I played and the outcome.”
Roddick has a chance to put some breathing space between himself and his main rivals for the final few ATP World Finals places ahead of the Paris Masters. Fernando Verdasco went out early in Valencia and Mikhail Youzhny pulled out before the tournament began.
Golubev has enjoyed the best year of his career in 2010, winning the Hamburg title and reaching the Kuala Lumpur final, results which have taken him into the top 40. He scored a decent 7-5, 6-2 win over Xavier Malisse in round one here, a good result given Malisse is always a dangerous opponent on fast surfaces.
However Golubev is a fairly inconsistent performer and while he may push Roddick to three sets, it is hard to see him getting any closer.
