Roddick, Sharapova romantically involved?
Tennis superstars have been spending a lot of time together, report says
 William West / AFP - Getty Images file Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has been romantically linked to former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick, according to a Melbourne, Australia, newspaper. |
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There may be a budding romance between tennis superstars Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick.
Fox Sports, using The Melbourne Herald-Sun as its source, reports that Sharapova has been spending a lot of time with Roddick.
According to Fox Sports, The Herald-Sun reported Sharapova left the IMG player party early Sunday night to go watch Roddick play poker in a casino's exclusive gambling rooms.
Sharapova also saw him play cards on Saturday and Wednesday nights, leading to more speculation that the couple is more than just friends, Fox Sports reported.
At the Australian Open on Wednesday, Roddick — looking to atone for his first-round loss at the U.S. Open last year — overcame an ankle sprain and beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
The second-seeded American was backed by a group of young women who wore spangled red, silver and blue hats, with the letters of his name painted on their bare stomachs. With a sprinkling of American flags around Rod Laver Arena, Roddick might as well have been playing at home.
When Moodie, the Wimbledon doubles champion, netted a backhand on match point, Roddick turned to his contingent and pumped his fist amid chants of “USA!”
“Would you believe me if I said every one of those is my cousin?” Roddick said. “It’s nice when you have 30-some-odd girls in bikinis cheering for you.”
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Roddick was at the top of his game on a cloudless day at Melbourne Park, where the heat had players sheltering in the shade between points. He yielded only 17 points in 15 service games and committed only nine unforced errors.
“I’ll take that most days,” he said.
Moodie tried to pressure him, rushing the net behind a serve that was nearly as fast as Roddick’s primary weapon. Despite his deft volleying, Moodie won only 57 percent of his 58 net approaches as Roddick’s passing shots left him lunging from side to side.
Roddick broke serve for the first time to take the first set. After Moodie fended off a break point and held for 3-3 in the second set, he didn’t have another game point until he already was down 2-0 in the third set.
“I wanted to return well,” Roddick said. “I feel like after the first four games of the match, I really started doing that. If I can do that, it will make my serve look that much better to the other guys.”
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Sharapova got a tougher-than-expected challenge from the 107th-ranked Harkleroad and twice received treatment in the second set for a blister on her left foot.
After Sharapova overcame three break points while serving at 4-5 in the second set, Harkleroad double-faulted on break point to hand the Russian a 6-5 advantage. Sharapova then held to finish the match with a stinging forehand down the line.
“It’s good to get a match like this, push yourself a little bit more,” Sharapova said. “I made some errors in the middle of the second set. I’ll get on the practice court and work on a few things for the next match.”
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