Shanghai-ed again!
For the second year in a row, Andy Roddick has been injured at the ATP 1000 Masters event in Shanghai, China, and this time he really sounds flustered.
“It’s not even that. . .I mean . . . it’s been just a really frustrating year,” he said not long after quitting with a 6-3, 2-3 lead over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the third round. “It’s not even that. I mean, it’s been just a really frustrating year, you know. Missed three months at the end of last year, the mono in the middle of this year, little things like that.”
The injury isn’t as bad as the one that finished his season a year ago, but, for Roddick, it’s the latest setback in a year that started brilliantly and which has turned into one problem after another.
This time it’s an adductor muscle high in the right leg, which he reinjured at 1-2 in the second set. As Garcia-Lopez brushed a drop shot from the baseline, Roddick stood at the back on his side, just watching and looking very despondent. You knew something was wrong.
Last year it was a serious knee injury that ended his season, but he should be back within three weeks from this. At least, that’s his best guess before an MRI determines the full extent of the damage.
That would put Andy into the tournament at Basel, Switzerland, on Nov. 1 and the Paris Masters a week later and leave him with a good opportunity of reaching the eight-man World Tour Championships in London in late November.
He’s currently in the eighth position, but comfortably ahead of Fernando Verdasco, who lost in his opening match at Shanghai to Thiemo de Bakker. So Verdasco won’t be closing ground.
Roddick started the year by winning Brisbane and 28 of is first 32 matches, including a title at Key Biscayne and a runner-up finish at Indian Wells. He’s only 15-9 since.
“I feel like I’ve had two or three legitimate months,” said Roddick. “Today, I felt, even in the first round (against Philipp Kohlschriber) I was hitting the ball great. Unfortunatley, the thing with that area of the leg is you’re prone to (rehurt it) if it’s not healthy. I did this last week against Gael Monfils in Tokyo. Last couple of days in practice, I feel like I’ve been moving like an elephant — kind of slow, just trying to protect it. I didn’t have full confidence, but it was holding on.”
After re-damaging the leg in the second set Wednesday night, Roddick said it got to a point where “moving at all felt like I was getting stabbed in the leg. It’s just frustrating. You want to get a little bit of momentum. . .I just feel like I haven’t been able to do that since April or May. A lot of it has been out of my hands. It’s just frustrating.”
Roddick is coming home to Austin, Texas, and an early guess is that he’ll not be able to get on court for at least a week to 10 days.