Roddick advances on a day of upsets in Beijing

Second-seeded American Andy Roddick (pictured) advanced to the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing, while other highly seeded players were upset on Friday. Defending champion Fernando Gonzalez, as well as No. 4 Richard Gasquet and No. 6 Tommy Roberdo were among the quarterfinal casualties.

Roddick smashed 23 aces in a come from behind, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, victory over former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. The American was able to break the Spaniards serve on two of four occasions, while winning 74 percent of first serve points. The win improved Roddick to 5-0 all time against Ferrero. He also improved his record to 39-13 this season, which includes titles earlier in the year at San Jose and Dubai. In the semifinals, Roddick will take on German Bjorn Phau, who is currently ranked No. 137 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. The only time the pair has met was in 2006 in the quarterfinals in San Jose, with Roddick winning easily in straight sets.

Phau grinded out a, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, victory over No. 3 seed Gonzalez in just less than two hours. The win puts the German journeyman in his first ATP level semifinal since the Casablanca event in 2006, where he lost to 2004 Athens Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu of Chile. Despite serving only 50 percent on his first serve, Phau was able to win 28 out of 38 first serve points, while cracking five aces compared to one double fault. Phau broke serve on five occasions, but had an incredible fifteen chances. The 28-year old Chilean drops to 35-12 on the season and certainly hurt himself points wise in the hopes of landing a spot in the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Wimbledon semifinalist Rainer Schuettler was a, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, winner over Frenchman Gasquet. Schuettler broke serve on four occasions, while winning 70 percent of first serve points in the roughly two and a half hour battle. The victory marked the German’s 15th win of the season and his first win over Gasquet, who had won their previous meeting last year in Tokyo. Gasquet dropped to 27-19 and probably knocked himself out of Tennis Masters Cup contention with the early exit.

Schuettler will next do battle with young Israeli Dudi Sela, who shocked Spanish No. 6 seed Robredo, 6-4, 6-1. Sela broke serve on five occasions and only surrendered his serve once in the victory. Currently ranked No. 92 in the world, Sela is looking to advance to his first career ATP level final. The last Israeli citizen to appear in an ATP level final was Harel Levy at the 2000 ATP Masters Series Canada. The Tel Aviv resident is having the tournament of a lifetime, already have beaten World No. 5 David Ferrer in the second round earlier in the week. The semifinal clash between Schuettler and Sela will be the first meeting for the pair.

With all the highly ranked players exiting the tournament left and right, Roddick should have a relatively easy walk to the winner’s circle. No match in the very deep ATP Tour is ever a cake walk, but if the hard hitting American can continue his fine play that he has shown us since making the quarterfinals at the US Open, he should walk away with his 3rd title of the 2008 season and 26th career title.