Roddick Halts Rusedski Progress

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In the battle between the two fastest servers in the world, it was third seed Andy Roddick who came out on top against Greg Rusedski to reach the quarterfinals of the Stella Artois Championships.

Roddick fired down 11 aces and equalled his own fastest serve of the year at 147 mph to record a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Rusedski, the man who holds the world record for the fastest serve at 149 mph.

Rusedski, slowly coming back to form after being out of the game for nine months having undergone foot and knee surgery, dropped his serve for the third time in the match at 4-4 in the final set, as Roddick held to love to clinch victory.

"I felt like I was hitting the ball well coming into the tournament," said Roddick. "I was hitting my returns well and it showed today. I think with the exception of two loose service games I played pretty well the whole way through. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way I played."

Comfortable

Roddick, who is working with new coach Brad Gilbert for the first time, added: "This is the most time I've ever practiced on grass. I was practicing five or six days before the tournament and that's been beneficial. This is the most comfortable I've felt on grass thus far in my career."

The 20-year-old now meets another big server in fellow countryman Taylor Dent, who upset No. 5 seed Sjeng Schalken 7-6(6), 6-4. Dent defeated Roddick in straight sets to win the Kroger St. Jude title in Memphis earlier this year, and Roddick knows he's got another tough match on his hands.

"They're not shy about giving me some big servers this week," said Roddick. "The last time I played Taylor [Dent] he beat me pretty good. He probably feels more comfortable on grass than I do but it's just one more match."

And Roddick, sporting a cap instead of his usual sun visor, said the decision was down to his new coach. "Brad [Gilbert] told me it didn't look too intimidating," he joked. "I couldn't come up with a good one-liner back at him so I bagged it."

Pleased

Despite the defeat, Rusedski was pleased to be competing with the best in the world once again. "I think I played a good match today and I thought Andy played very well," said the British No. 2. "It came down to one or two points and a little bit of movement. It's only my seventh match of the year so I was pleased with my performance.

"I was more aggressive on the returns in the second set. In the first and third sets I just didn't put the pressure on him. He played the big points well. I just need to get the sharpness back. I haven't faced anyone with as big a serve as he has for some time."

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