Points won by each set: [ 25-21, 25-33, 29-16, 29-38, 26-21 ]
Points won directly on serve:
32 % Roddick – 43 of 132
32 % Ancic – 43 of 131
The seventh and last meeting between them; counting also their two junior meetings, Ancic [10] never defeated Roddick [7], being arguably the closest in that Aussie Open match. It seemed that he took the momentum after breaking the American in the 12th game of the 4th set thanks to quite impressive two forehand passing-shots. He had 7-4 record in five-setters at the time while Roddick just 8-9 what could give him the mental edge. Nevertheless the American took a 5-minute toilet break before the decider, and the Croat lost his serve at 2-all, serving exceptionally well in his four other games of that set. I’d say that a game on Roddick’s serve at 1:2 was crucial – Ancic run too much during a rally to finish the game and perhaps it cost him the energy required to serve out another game which he lost at 30.
# I’ve recently watched two matches off the same court, separated by twelve years, and it made me wonder why despite similar service numbers, Sampras & Larsson spent under the Melbourne sun just 4 minutes longer having played as many as 53 points more!? I assumed the longer rallies in the Roddick’s match were the key, but at least the ‘7-5’ sets of both matches didn’t confirm it: 3.75 average rally in the former, 4.32 in the latter.