Everyone knows that Andy Roddick used to play a more aggressive game back in his youth and everyone knows in the past few years, he’s gone to a more conservative, passive style.  For a long time, the combination of his big serve and the ability to hang in long rallies was enough to beat most players outside the top ten.  However, with more and more players playing big shots off the ground, Roddick was finding it not only tough to beat players ranked above him, who he has often struggled with, but also some below him.

Roddick realizes this, but it’s an effort to move from a style that you feel comfortable with to one that is inherently more risky.  Roddick has slipped out of the top ten for the first time since he got into the top ten.   He’s been working on some small changes to make himself more viable in the top ten.

Julien Benneteau was perhaps the perfect opponent for him.  He had just finished a long match against Raonic.  He’s a little bit older so he plays more of an old school play.  That is, he’s not spectacular off the ground.  He doesn’t have great footspeed.  He’s got a good serve and he can attack the net.  He overcomes his deficiencies by hitting bigger off the ground and taking his chances, perhaps a bit like Michael Llodra.

With his recent match against Raonic, Benneteau was spotting Roddick’s serve pretty well which means Roddick was playing a lot of rallies in his serve.  However, Roddick, playing more aggressively, both off the ground, and coming into net, found opportunities all over.  In the end, Roddick proved too challenging.

Final score: 64 64.

John Isner won his match in typical fashion.  Win tiebreaks, and stay close in sets with the big serve.  One would expect Wawrinka to be into these matches, but the score went 67, 75, 76.  Wawrinka had a break in the third set but Isner came back to tie it up despite apparent fatigue.

Ivan Dodig came from a set down to beat Fabio Fognini 64, 61, 63.  Dodig has been having a pretty good year.

Players who went deep in tournaments last week struggled.  Stakhovsky beat Nishikori, last week’s Basel finalist, 64 63.  Marcel Granollers who won the Valencia title last week lost to Chardy retiring after the first set.

In a battle of two lefties, Spaniard Feliciano Lopez beat Michael Llodra 76, 63.

Finally, Tomas Berdych makes progress to qualifying for the year-end championship beating left Fernando Verdasco, 63 75.

Two more matches upcoming.  Tsonga will play Spaniard Garcia-Lopez while Donald Young takes on Argentine, Juan Monaco.  Monaco was a finalist in Valencia.  The question is how much energy he’ll have to take on Young.