Roddick stuns Federer in three-set thriller in Miami

Miami (Florida), March 27 (IANS) American Andy Roddick stunned third-seeded and World No.3 Roger Federer 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open, Miami 2012, tennis tournament.

For Roddick the win against the Swiss was the third time in 24 career meetings. Two of Roddick's wins over the 16-time major champion have come at Crandon Park. The 31st-seeded Roddick, in the round of 16, will play 21st seed Juan Monaco, who rallied to beat 14th-seeded Gael Monfils 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

'It was kind of a game of chess. I stayed back on the returns, which is something I have not done with him often early on. I think he might have been a little bit surprised by it,' Roddick was quoted as saying by the tournament website after the win here Monday.

'He made the adjustment like he does because he's Roger. He started coming in a lot and putting the pressure on me, and it was 6-1 in the second and 0/40 early in the third. It was apparent that that wasn't going to work much longer.

'So I said, 'Well, all right. Let's kinda go over the top aggressive.' I was able to get out of that game and play that really good game to break, and then my serve held up from there,' Roddick added.

After losing the first set tie-break, Federer found his groove on return, breaking the American three times to even the match at one-set all. Roddick found himself in trouble in his opening service game of the third set, saving four break points in what proved to be a turning point in the match. In the ensuing game, Roddick broke Federer for the first time to take a 2-1 lead, and maintained his advantage to seal the win in just over two hours.

'I had my chances. I thought Andy did well to get the first, and then to put me in the situation I guess in the third,' said Federer. 'I could have been up a break early in the third, but he did well also to fight off those break points. He served really well.

'I think he had a good overhead. He played aggressive and clutch served when he had to. It was his credit. For me, it was obviously a tough loss. The one service game where I got broken, he really goes for it and it all works out.'

With the win, Roddick snapped Federer's 16-match win streak, which included titles in Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells. The 31st-seeded Roddick also ended Federer's run of 77 consecutive wins against players ranked outside the Top 20 in the ATP Rankings.

The match was sold out for the first time, setting an attendance record for session 14 with 14,278 fans.