A-Rod happy to break the clay mould

General / Editor / 12 February 2007 / Leave a Comment

Andy Roddick was delighted to overcome difficult conditions and a hostile crowd to lead the USA to Davis Cup victory over the Czech Republic.

The Americans had not won a World Group clash on clay in the prestigious event for more than a decade and the match was evenly poised at one rubber each after day one, following Roddick's four-set victory over Ivo Minar and James Blake's four-set defeat to Tomas Berdych.

However doubles specialists Mike and Bob Bryan beat Pavel Viznar and Lukas Dlouhy on Saturday to give the US a vital advantage going into Sunday's reverse singles in Ostrava.

Roddick sealed victory with a 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory over Berdych to send America through to the quarter-finals, while Bob Bryan beat Lukas Dlouhy in the remaining 'dead' rubber to give the visitors a 4-1 success.

The US have won the Davis Cup on 31 occasions, three more than Australia, with Great Britain and France then tied for third on the list with nine wins each.

However they have not lifted the trophy since 1995 and Roddick was happy to play his part over the weekend as they look to end the barren run in the competition.

"It is a statistic I don't like," admitted Roddick. "Especially considering I have been on the team for my seventh year now.

"As far as the weight of the situation goes, it definitely could be one of my best matches on clay."

The US now face Spain in the last eight but have home advantage and Roddick expects the hard courts in Winston-Salem to give his side the edge after they negotiated their way through a tricky tie on the less-than-impressive clay in Eastern Europe.

"It was similar to a sandbox," Roddick said of the Ostrava court. "I'm sure we will return the favour (in North Carolina in April), and I'm sure the court probably won't be too slow."

Following the weekend success the US are now 4.9 to win the Davis Cup, along with Argentina, with defending champions Russia, who edged past Chile 3-2 at the weekend the 4.6 favourites.

Spain trade at 7.8 with France available to back at 10.