Wimbledon 2010: Roddick Upset by Yen-Hsun Lu

The Biggest, Least Expected Upset of Wimbledon 2010?

Wimbledon 2010 has been stock full of potential upsets - Federer getting taken to 5 sets in his first round match vs. Alejandro Falla and almost facing a match point, Nadal getting pushed, Soderling, and lets not forget the epic, 11 hour, longest match in tennis history, 3-day battle between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Even the Queen of England returned to Wimbledon for the first time in over 30 years. But no one was worried when the round of 16 match between Roddick and Chinese Tapei (Taiwan) player Yen-Hsun Lu, aged 27 and typically ranked somewhere at the lower end of the top 100, began on Monday. Maybe they should have been.

ESPN Video : Roddick Upset by Lu, Wimbledon 2010 Round of 16

A 5 Set Battle to the Bitter End

In a long, drawn-out, hard fought battle, Lu took Roddick to the edge, literally - as he kept him pinned behind the baseline for the duration of the match. He continued his aggressive, inside the baseline, ground stroke pounding assault for the 4+ hour time the two spend battling it out on court 2 (a self-contained small stadium court that, incidentally, requires a separate ticket to enter, unlike most of the courts that can be accessed via a grounds pass at Wimbledon). Lu won the match 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 9-7 in 5 sets.

No one had Lu penciled in in the second week, much less the quarter finals, knowing he would have to get through last year's runner up and three time Wimbledon finalist, consistent top 10 player and 5th seed Andy Roddick to do so. Unfortunately, maybe Roddick thought the same? While the match was intense, and winners far exceeded unforced errors, Roddick never had a chance to step inside the baseline and take an aggressive, attacking approach.

Paul Annacone, Roddick's former coach, was calling the match on ESPN alongside Patrick McEnroe. He continually pointed out that it was Andy's mindset that was hurting him. He came into the match with the expectation that this would be a straightforward, straight set win. Maybe he even had his eyes on the next round opponent - which all tennis players can tell you can be a fatal thing to do. Andy never fell into the confident, free swinging Roddick that we're used to seeing - that we saw last year nearly go up two sets to love in the final vs. the greatest player of all time. Instead, he relied on his serve, and hung several feet behind the baseline as he waited for Lu to hit unforced errors, which unfortunately, didn't come nearly enough.

Roddick Doesn't Face a Break Point Until the Final Set

Yen-Hsun Lu fought hard, and fought well. But so did Roddick. In fact, he didn't face a break point until the final set, and then it was a match point. On his first match point, Lu attacked, as he had been doing all match long, and converted. Roddick, on the other hand, lost two of three tiebreakers en route to an extremely disappointing round of 16 loss in a tournament that, with all due respect to Federer, he probably deserves to have won at least one time by now.

Will Andy Ever Win Wimbledon?

The sad part is, time is ticking. With every year that passes, the pool of younger tennis players (and veterans coming into their prime, such as Lu) grows larger, fiercer, and more competitive. And Andy, while leaner and quicker on his feet (thanks to coach Larry Stefanki) than he may ever have been, is not growing any younger. Let's hope next year he comes into the fight mentally prepared to go the distance - no matter what, and no matter who's standing on the other side of the net.