WIMBLEDON 2009: Cool Roddick battles hard to reach the last 16

By Peter Higgs, Mail on Sunday Sports Reporter/Golf Correspondent Updated: 14:36 EST, 27 June 2009

Andy Roddick kept the Centre Court crowd waiting longer than they expected before battling his way into the last 16.

The former US Open champion, seeded No 6, needed two hours and 53 minutes to see off the challenge of 26th seed Jurgen Melzer from Austria in a contest dominated by the serve.

The 26-year-old American, who was beaten by Roger Federer in the 2004 and 2005 finals, now faces a tough fourth-round clash with 20th seed Tomas Berdych, who has yet to drop a set.

But Roddick deserves credit for fighting his way through a match that could easily have gone against him.

For long periods early on he had problems coping with the swinging left-handed serve of the 28-year-old Melzer, who he had beaten in all their previous eight encounters.

Roddick possessed the superior self-belief when it really matter, particularly in the tie-breaks.

Sometimes an excitable character on court, Roddick was calmness personified.

When the tie-breaks got really tight it was Melzer, who nearly upset Andy Murray in a five-set thriller at the US Open two years ago, who made the mistakes, notably on his forehand, which is a weakness under pressure.

The match began to get interesting when Melzer hit back to take the third set. And when he also broke back after dropping his serve in the fourth set it did appear briefly that a fifth set - and even an upset - might be on the cards.

But Roddick held firm broke Melzer's serve again and complete a satisfactory victory. Since reaching No 1 in the world, only to slide down the rankings as the likes of Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal took over, Roddick has been derided as a one-dimensional player who relies too heavily on his big serve and heavy forehand.

But he remains talented and determined, with a personality to make him a crowd favourite. He cannot be lightly dismissed in the second week.