Roddick survives scare

WIMBLEDON, England – The light was fading, the wind was swirling, and Andy Roddick was pacing behind the Centre Court baseline before the start of the fifth set, all too aware he had lost his past five matches of that length.

Determined to end that drought, he decided a change in tactics was in order. He began charging to the net more, and thanks in part to one picture-perfect diving volley, the second-seeded Roddick pulled out a 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 6-3 victory over Daniele Bracciali on Friday to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

“I wanted to prove something out there today, for sure. There was definitely a chip on my shoulder,” Roddick said. “It was big to get through. It would have been a devastating loss.”

Australian Open champion Marat Safin did taste defeat Friday, but he didn’t sound all that disappointed at being on the wrong end of a 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3 score against No. 26 Feliciano Lopez of Spain in a third-round match.

“I’m satisfied. I found my game on grass. I have nothing to complain about,” said Safin, who changed his tune after vowing to quit trying to succeed on the surface after last year’s first-round exit at the All England Club.

Lopez, into Wimbledon’s round of 16 for the third time in four years, next faces 2004 semifinalist Mario Ancic. Lleyton Hewitt, the 2002 champion, will play No. 24 Taylor Dent of the United States in the fourth round. Hewitt beat Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-5, while Dent was a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 winner over Tomas Berdych, the Czech who upset Roger Federer at the Athens Olympics.

Federer, the two-time defending Wimbledon champion, and No. 1 Lindsay Davenport were among the players whose matches didn’t start Friday because of rain. Before the tournament’s first patch of bad weather, No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo beat Shenay Perry of the United States 6-0, 6-2, and four Russians made the round of 16: U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, two-time major finalist Elena Dementieva, and No. 13 Elena Likhovtseva.

Roddick’s match was suspended by darkness Thursday night, right after the third set, which angered Bracciali. And it was halted for 33 minutes Friday by rain, right after the 120th-ranked Italian conjured up four brilliant returns on serves up to 135 mph to break at love for a 4-3 edge in the fourth set.

It was about then that Roddick began having flashbacks to the French Open. There, too, he won the first two sets against a low-ranked opponent in the second round before letting the lead vanish. Roddick wound up losing to Jose Acasuso in five sets in Paris.

“I thought about it,” the American said. “I thought about how to avoid it.”

So he opted to attack more. Roddick won 13 of 15 serve-and-volley points and 28 points at the net overall.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Bracciali said, “because I knew he had to change something.”

The match turned in Roddick’s favor in the sixth game of the final set, when he smacked a forehand he thought was a clean winner. It was called out. Roddick hopped in place and appeared ready to launch into a tirade but instead put his arm in his mouth and bit down, holding it all in.

Good decision. A moment later, Roddick hit a backhand passing shot down the line – the sort of addition to his repertoire he’s developed over the past two years – to earn two break points, then converted the second to lead 4-2.

In the next game, Roddick double-faulted to fall behind 15-30, and then came the shot of the match. Bracciali hit what looked to be a just-right passing shot, one seemingly destined to set up a chance to break right back. But Roddick changed directions, left his feet, stretched out to his right and, parallel to the ground, extended for a volley to end the point.

“That dive,” Bracciali said admiringly, pausing. “Incredible.”

It was Roddick’s first victory in a five-setter since the 2003 U.S. Open semifinals.