Roddick reigns supreme

HOUSTON, MAY 7. American teenager Andy Roddick captured his second title in as many weeks with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over South Korean Hyung-Taik Lee at the U.S. clay court championships here on Sunday.

``It feels great,'' said the 18-year-old Floridian after collecting $ 46,000, one week after earning $ 54,000 for his Atlanta title.

''I didn't expect it going into Atlanta, but I knew I was playing well coming into here. It's big any time you win two ATP tournaments in two weeks,'' said Roddick, whose current form began with an upset of Pete Sampras on the Ericsson Open hardcourts en route to his first ATP Tour quarterfinal.

His transition to clay has been perfection. But even with consecutive titles on the slow surface, Roddick was not ready to declare himself a French Open contender. ``Anybody who puts me as a contender there is ridiculous,'' said Roddick, who did not drop a set in his two title runs.

But the American could well prove to be a tough early round opponent for anyone at Roland Garros. ``I can give most players a match. I just want to go in there and play well. If I play well, somebody is going to have to play well to beat me.''

The eighth-seeded Lee, the first Korean player to reach an ATP Tour final, stayed with Roddick through nine games. But the American won the final 12 points of that first set by serving two love games and breaking Lee at love.

``I just wanted to hold serve and get my feet into the match,'' said Roddick, who was a bit sleep-deprived after not getting back to his hotel until nearly 2 a.m. due to a four-hour rain delay on Saturday and some post-match treatment. '' I got that spark at 4- 5.``

That spark resulted in seven aces for a total of 36 over five matches this week for Roddick, who lost a mere three points on his serve in the first set as the 25-year-old Korean struggled with the youngster's powerful strokes. ''He has a lot of power and also the direction of his speed is very good,'' Lee said through a translator.

Roddick was so dominating from the service line that he faced a total of five break points all week and none on Sunday. ``I'm improving in a lot of aspects,'' Roddick said. ``I've started returning better. I've been coming to the net, which adds a whole new dimension to my game. I haven't been afraid to rear back and serve a 105, 110 (mile per hour) second serve.''

In the second set, Roddick broke Lee for a 3-2 lead and served another love game to make it 4-2. Lee saved a break point and held his next service game, but it was the last game the Korean would win. Roddick served up yet another love game in which Lee failed to put a single ball over the net, and he broke the eighth seed to close out the match on his second match point.

Still, Lee was satisfied with his showing in Houston. ``When I first got here, I didn't think of getting to the final,'' admitted Lee. `` Even though I lost it, I felt good and happy because I'm improving. I know there is a prosperous future ahead of me.''

Roddick's bright future just got a bit easier. His recent results will improve his ranking enough that he will no longer have to play qualifying tournaments or seek wild card entries to get into main draws as he did here. ``This is a big help,'' Roddick said. `` It can get me into the main draw of any tournament. I can pick and choose where I want to play.''

Marked as the future of American tennis when he was the world's top-ranked junior last year, Roddick is looking and feeling like he just might live up to his advance billing. ''I'll feel like I belong,`` Roddick said.

- Reuters

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