U.S. Open 2012: Andy Roddick Lives To Play Another Day

Andy Roddick’s final tour will continue for one more day after Roddick handled Australian Bernard Tomic in three sets on Friday, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-0.

The win comes a day after the 30-year-old Roddick held a news conference and surprisingly announced that the 2012 U.S. Open will be the last tournament of his career.

John Isner, the highest-ranked American left in the field at the 2012 U.S. Open, defeated Jarkko Nieminen in four sets on Friday to advance to the third round. Isner received quite a challenge from Nieminen, but he managed to rally late and get by the unranked Finnish player with a strong serve and by limiting his unforced errors.

Isner took the first set 6-3. After losing the second set 7-6 on a 7-5 tiebreaker, the world’s ninth-ranked player battled back to win the next two sets, 6-4 and 6-3. Isner will face the winner of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benoit Paire on Sunday. Neither of his possible opponents are ranked.

Janko Tipsarevic from Serbia defeated Brian Baker in straight sets on Friday at the 2012 U.S. Open, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Tipsarevic advances to the third round of the U.S. Open.

Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the 7th seed in the men’s draw at the U.S. Open men’s singles tennis tournament, advanced to the third round with a victory over unseeded American Ryan Harrison on Friday.

Del Potro won in four sets, 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, in a match that took two hours, 34 minutes. Del Potro won 7 of 10 break points and committed 10 fewer unforced errors than Harrison, a 20-year-old from Austin, Texas who has never gotten past the second round at a Grand Slam event.

Maria Sharapova wasted no time in dispatching Mallory Burdette of the United States in the third round of the U.S. Open. Sharapova needed only 58 minutes to beat Burdette in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Burdette was broken three times during the first set, including on the opening point and on set point, and Sharapova broke her another three times in the second set to pull away.

Sharapova dominated her first serves, winning 72% compared to 43% for Burdette. The totals got even more lopsided for second service, where Sharapova won 10 of 16 points to Burdette’s 2 for 11. Sharapova also won 61% of the receiving points, piled up 17 winners, and had only 12 unforced errors, while Burdette took only 29% of the receiving points, committed 18 unforced errors and had only six winners. Perhaps the most crucial distinction came in break points, with Sharapova winning the aforementioned six and Burdette only able to capitalize once in seven tries.

In an extremely close match, American Steve Johnson edged out Ernests Gulbis of Latvia to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open.

After dropping the first set 6-7 (3-7), Johnson won the next three 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-4.