Injury Sidelines Roddick

No. 2 Seed Withdraws From Tournament With Muscle Strain

Washington's Legg Mason Tennis Classic suffered an opening-day blow to its lineup as defending champion Andy Roddick withdrew from the hard-court tournament yesterday, citing a lingering muscle strain in his left side that he said left him unable to compete.

Roddick, the tournament's No. 2 seed, traveled to Washington after suffering the injury during a match Thursday in Los Angeles, hopeful that he would be well enough to play by midweek. Tournament officials granted his request to delay his opening match until tomorrow to give him more time to recover. But after hitting on the practice courts for a half-hour yesterday at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, Roddick concluded he was in no shape to serve, much less compete, in the next 48 hours and informed tournament officials.

"I could still feel it out there today, and I didn't feel like I was well enough to play sets in practice tomorrow and therefore I would have been shoddy at best on Wednesday," Roddick told reporters last night. "I'd rather try to get it healed."

While Roddick's decision no doubt will disappoint many ticket buyers, it will hurt the former world No. 1 even more. The hard-serving Roddick has been mired in a slump this season, having yet to win a tournament and failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the three Grand Slam events to date. With the U.S. Open four weeks away, Roddick's most pressing goal is to recuperate sufficiently to make a run at reclaiming the title he won in 2003.

"Fortunately, there's still some time for me before the U.S. Open," said Roddick, 23. "It's not like the U.S. Open is next week."

Roddick's withdrawal from the Legg Mason, however, only complicates his challenge. That is because players' rankings are based largely on how well they do in each tournament compared to their performance in the same event the previous year. As the Legg Mason's defending champion, Roddick will pay dearly for not competing, losing 200 points in the standings. That will drop him from the top 10 in the rankings and have a snowball effect in terms of his seeding, as well as the caliber of his early-round opponents, down the road.

Roddick is scheduled to play two tournaments -- next week in Toronto and the following week in Cincinnati -- before the U.S. Open.

The muscle strain is a new injury, Roddick explained, and one that flares up when he twists, bends or serves. "There is no way to hide from or mask this injury," Roddick said. Still, he said he's feeling far better than he did Thursday, when his trainer had to remove his shoes because he couldn't bend to untie his laces.

The setback comes at a particularly vexing time -- not only because the U.S. Open looms, but also because Roddick had finally started to show improvement, reaching the final of a tournament in Indianapolis two weeks ago before falling to fellow American James Blake in a third-set tiebreaker. "I feel like I finally started to play good tennis at Indy," Roddick said. "I played five good matches in a row, which is something I haven't done in awhile. To have that momentum stalled is kind of frustrating."

It also left him saddened.

"This is one of my favorite stops every summer," Roddick said. "I'm just disappointed I'm not getting the chance to defend it, but I'll be back here."

Roddick's withdrawal leaves Blake, the event's top seed, as the clear favorite to reclaim the title he won in 2002. The fifth-ranked Blake will open play tonight against fellow American Kevin Kim. Andre Agassi will precede Blake on Center Court, facing qualifier Andrea Stoppini of Italy, who upset Rockville's Paul Goldstein, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that stretched past midnight.

With temperatures surging into the 90s and oppressive humidity blanketing the air, yesterday's matches got off to a sluggish start. Wesley Moodie knew it was hot when his head started spinning and he broke out in chills during the opening set of his first-round match. His opponent, 18-year-old Sam Querrey, held up better initially but could hardly believe it when he realized that the reason he started slipping late in the match was that he was sweating through his shoes.

"That had never happened to me before," Querrey said. "I was leaving footprints on the court!"

Querrey changed his socks and sneakers in hopes of regaining his footing, but it didn't help. The more seasoned Moodie prevailed, despite failing to break Querrey's massive serve, eking out a 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6) victory.

Also advancing was former world No. 1 Marat Safin, who subdued fellow Russian Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). Safin is arguably the most gifted player in the draw, but a knee injury last season sent his ranking tumbling. With it went his confidence, and the slog back up the sport's pecking order has been humbling.

"When I'm playing good, I'm playing very good," Safin said. "When I'm playing bad, I'm playing terribly."