Americans 4-8: Roddick, Blake and Jesse Levine Move Into Round Two

Of the dozen American men on the London lawns, only four have moved onto the second round of Wimbledon. Andy Roddick, the sixth-seeded American in Wimbledon, won in straight sets on Tuesday. Ninth seeded James Blake started slow against Belgian qualifier Chrisophe Rochus, but ultimately started up his game and won easily in the closing sets. Qualifier Jesse Levine, ranked 137 in the world, upset No. 88 ranked American Donald Young in four sets, losing the first before ripping off three in a row. It was the first Wimbledon win ever for the lefty Levine, a Canada-born 20-year-old who played one year of college tennis at the University of Florida before turning pro.

Roddick, Blake and Levine join Bobby Reynolds as the only American man to win in the first round, making the American men a collective 4-8 in the first round. Joining Young in the American first-round losers category on Tuesday were Mardy Fish, who lost in straight sets to eight-seeded Richard Gasquet; Wayne Odesnik, who retired after losing the first set to 24th seeded Jarkko Nieminen; and John Isner, who lost to Ernests Gulbis in four very tight sets, including an 8-6 tiebreaker in the fourth.

On Wednesday, Acworth, Ga.-resident and former Vanderbilt University star Bobby Reynolds goes up against Frank Dancevic, the Candian wildcard who upset David Nalbandian on Monday. It will be the first match of the day scheduled for noon London time on court 18.

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One Response to “Americans 4-8: Roddick, Blake and Jesse Levine Move Into Round Two”

  1. Gone are the Sampras-Agassi days (and if you want McEnroe-Connors). American tennis desperately needs a hero.
    Nice to see a blog focusing on tennis. Just the other day I had written about Wimbledon at my blog.

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