|
 The top-seeded Roddick never even faced a break point in the final as Stepanek had no answer for his booming serve. Roddick closed out each set with an ace to win his 24th career title.
There were only two service breaks in the entire match. The fourth-seeded Stepanek lost his serve at love to open the match and never recovered. Then at 5-all in the third set, Roddick came up with the two big ground strokes he needed to close out the match.
He hit a forehand down the line off the first serve that handcuffed Stepanek as he approached the net to earn a break point. Then he went up 6-5 with a topspin forehand passing shot.
After that, it was just a formality as Roddick started the next game with an ace and two service winners. Roddick made two errors before finishing it off with a 129 mph ace down the middle.
The 29-year-old Stepanek was looking for his third career title. He tried to win over the fans in San Jose by wearing a Joe Thornton Sharks jersey when he came out onto the court. But that was probably a bad omen considering the Sharks have one of the worst home records in the NHL.
Roddick improved to 4-0 in his career against Stepanek, also beating the Czech native last summer in Washington in a match he said he was lucky to win. He needed no such luck this time, adding the title to the ones he won here in 2004 and
'05.
In the doubles final, Americans Scott Lipsky and David Martin won their first career title, beating top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (4), 7-5 in a matchup of former Stanford stars.
[Associated Press; By JOSH DUBOW]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
|
