Roddick wins Brisbane International

As far as fitness tests go, recovering top seed Andy Roddick could not have wished
for a better hit-out than his marathon Brisbane International championship victory
over defending champion Radek Stepanek on Sunday.

But that didn't make it any less annoying.
In the end, world No.7 Roddick finally converted his sixth match point to oust
second seeded Stepanek 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (9-7) in a final lasting more than two hours.
It was a great workout for Roddick ahead of the Australian Open, but the former
world No.1 would surely have preferred to have pulled off the quick kill that
initially presented itself at Pat Rafter Arena.
In his first tournament since October due to a troublesome knee, Roddick appeared
set for an early shower after being a set and 5-1 up against the world No.12.
But Stepanek was at his niggling best, changing the tempo of the match to dismantle
Roddick's power game and claw his way back before forcing a second set tiebreak.
The 31-year-old was it again in the tiebreak, saving five match points from 6-1 down
to hold a set point before Roddick finally put the veteran away to claim his 28th
career title.
Roddick's gutsy victory ended Stepanek's nine-game winning run at the Brisbane
International.
"Radek, I know you won here last year and you were undefeated on this court and for
a while I thought it might be your destiny," Roddick told the crowd after his win.
"One thing about you, you get to every ball and never give up the fight - that's to
be applauded."
In an encouraging sign ahead of the year's first grand slam, Roddick claimed his
first career title in Australia - and in his first final Down Under.
Roddick has had a frustrating time of it in Australia's grand slam, making the
semi-final four times in the last seven years, only to be denied a shot at the
title.
While Roddick insisted that his knee was "fine", questions were raised over the
former world No.1's fitness when he opted not to contest Davis Cup tennis this year
to cut down his workload.
But Roddick passed his Brisbane fitness test with flying colours - thanks mainly to
the relentless Stepanek.
The Czech dug into his bag of tricks to stay on serve in the first set, saving two
break points in the sixth game.
He even enjoyed a break point of his own in the 11th game as Roddick appeared
distracted with dubious line calls that went against him, judging by the extended
tirade he unleashed on chair umpire Fergus Murphy.
Stepanek saved two set points in the 12th to force a tiebreak.
But Roddick wasn't to be denied, taking the tiebreak 7-2 and the first set in 65
minutes.
The former US Open champion's power game appeared to hit another gear in the second,
reeling off the first four games of the second set on his way to leading 5-1.
Then Stepanek turned the match on its head.
Roddick extended his record over Stepanek to 6-1.