Andy Roddick put up a great fight in his match against No. 7 ranked Juan Martin del Potro, but in the end he lost in four sets 7-6,6-7,2-6. 4-6.
With the loss, Roddick is out of the 2012 U.S. Open and his career as a tennis player is over. It was a very emotional moment for him as the match ran to its end. The umpire had to constantly remind the crowd to keep quiet.
Roddick will be remembered as the tennis player to represent the U.S. post-Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.
Roddick seemed to have things under control Tuesday night, but Del Potro rallied back to establish his game and the rhythm of the match.
In the final set, Roddick fought back in the fourth set taking a 1-0 and 2-1 lead, but Del Potro bounced back each time.
In the fifth game, the changing point in the final set, Roddick began struggling and back-to-back unforced errors had him trailing 30-0.
Fans tried getting Roddick in the match in between points as they cheered for him. They erupted as Roddick made back-to-back points to get the match at 30-30.
After a double fault and an unforced error, the fans groaned as Roddick trailed 3-2 with Del Potro serving. Del Potro bounced back right after breaking Roddick's serve and won the following game to take the commanding 4-2 lead.
Roddick did not quit and swept the seventh game, making the set 4-3. Del Potro made a game-changing challenge that gave him a 40-15 advantage in the following game.
Roddick received an ovation from the crowd before a serve as he trailed 30-40, in a would-be possible last serve of his career, but a Del Potro unforced error prevented this from happening. Roddick then ran up to the net in the following serve and sent a ball down the left baseline.
Del Potro held 40-0 and put Roddick away on a cross court backhand that forced Roddick off the court and to an unforced error.
A very class act by Del Potro ensued after the victory, instead of celebrating, he pointed to Roddick and let him embrace the moment and applause from the fans.
Del Potro seemed to figure out Roddick's tricks and changed gears despite losing the first set.
Roddick was a completely different player last night toward the latter stages of the first set. He was active and his play at the net was impeccable.
He was up 5-2 yesterday, only to allow del Potro to regain momentum and push the first set to a tiebreak.
Roddick fought back in the second set, but del Potro proved too tough and defeated Roddick in the tiebreak.
Del Potro will now face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
