Angry Roddick crashes out in Indian Wells

By Matt Cronin

INDIAN WELLS (Reuters) – Andy Roddick’s slump in form
continued on Wednesday when he was knocked out in the fourth
round of the Pacific Life Open by 24th seed Igor Andreev.

The world number three went down 6-4 6-7 6-1 in the fourth
round and his Russian conqueror now faces Tommy Haas or James
Blake for a place in the semi final.

Top seed Roger Federer raced past France’s Richard Gasquet
6-3 6-4 to book his place in the last eight while Martina
Hingis eclipsed Russia’s Dinara Safina 6-3 6-4 to reach the
semis.

In another upset, Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan upended
fourth seed David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-7 6-3 6-2.

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus continued his fine form,
defeating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-1 to reach
the quarter-finals.

Former world number one Roddick, who has yet to win a title
this year, was furious with himself, swearing and breaking his
racket in the sixth game of the final set and receiving a point
penalty.

After playing a fine tiebreaker to level the contest at one
set all, Roddick collapsed in the first game of the third set,
failing to convert three break points.

Flustered by his inability to deliver, the American
completely imploded.

“I don’t know what the hell I did. I went on walkabout and
gave up the next game. It was just like a blur.”

While Roddick won five titles last year and reached the
Wimbledon final, he has been unable to find the level that
brought him to the top of the rankings in 2003.

BIG FRUSTRATION

“I’m not going to sit here and put on my fun face,” Roddick
said. “I’m not happy. I’m mad with the way I played. It’s just
frustration. We’ve all been there, except I have people
watching when I break something.”

Hingis secured her 20th win since her comeback from a
three-year absence from the tour with a polished display
against Safina.

“Today probably wasn’t all the prettiest game, but it was
effective,” Hingis said.

“It’s more important to be in the semi finals of this
event. It’s a big one.”

The 25-year-old will face the winner of the Maria
Sharapova- Anna Lena Groenefeld quarter final.

After beating Gasquet, two-time defending champion Federer
is now 19-1 for the year, his sole defeat coming to second seed
Rafael Nadal in the final of Dubai.

Federer will face the winner of the match between Croatians
Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic.

Nadal is scheduled to face Sebastien Grosjean later on
Wednesday.