2005 Davis Cup - Agassi Shocked, Roddick Rocks
By Todd Goldman  |  March 4, 2005

It was seen by many as a way to bring home the first Davis Cup trophy in 10 years for the Americans: Andre Agassi joining the US Davis Cup team that is. And most of the fans that showed up at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California yesterday thought the same. However the Croatian Davis Cup team had other plans for the 6000 plus spectators.
 
Agassi was first on and was forced to face the surging Ivan Ljubicic. The currently ranked 14th player in the world has had his best year yet and March has barely begun. Ljubicic has already been in four finals this year and may have won a few titles if not for World #1 Roger Federer.  With a big serve and a one handed backhand he was off and running early in the match with an immediate break of Agassi. Ljubicic raced off to a 3-0 lead.
 
On a windy and slow court Agassi seemed to have a hard time settling into the match. “I was pretty uncomfortable from the get. The wind wasn’t very predictable in that stadium,” said Agassi. But suddenly Agassi started to feel his way, breaking Ljubicic to get back on serve at 4-3. But it wasn’t meant to last.
 
Agassi who was having a hard time keeping the ball on his strings was broken in the next and longest game of the set. From there Ljubicic made short order of Agassi and took the set. And as Agassi became a bit more uncomfortable so to went the crowd.
 
The second set saw Agassi start to settle in with the consultation of his coach Darren Cahill. Agassi consulted both Cahill during the set and then twice Captain Patrick McEnroe did the same. At 2-2 Agassi started moving Ljubicic around with varying drop shots and getting more angle on the ball. From there Agassi surged to a 5-2 lead.
 
At 5-3 it was on Agassi’s racket to even up the match, but it was to no avail. As quickly as he was looking at a chance to get back into the match, Ljubicic evened the set at 5-5. Two holds and they were at 6-6.  Seven straight points later and it was clear that the US was going to find themselves in an early hole.
 
The third set was more or less the same as the first, and Ljubicic closed out the match with two aces to put Croatia on top 1-0. With a 6-3, 7-6. 6-3 win, Croatia was now in the driver’s seat.
 
Next up was the United State’s number one: Andy Roddick. Roddick who held a 2-0 advantage over his opponent Mario Ancic was probably not expecting to come out of the locker room down 1-0, but that is exactly where he found himself. Ancic, on the other hand, was looking to put Croatia one point away from the Quarterfinal round.
 
The crowd started to get a bit more antsy. In the third set of the Agassi-Ljubicic match you could hear the fans start to razz and taunt the Croatian player. Now American tennis fans were going to try and help Roddick wherever they could. And he would need it.
 
Roddick, with one of the best serves in the game, was first to serve and subsequently the first to be broken. The first set offered the best tennis of this match. Roddick did break back, but Ancic just broke again and then went on to win the first set 6-4. From there it seemed the US was in a bit of a quandary. With a loss by Agassi and now Roddick down 1-0 someone had to do something. And that someone was Roddick.
 
Suddenly his shots were a bit more penetrating and his serve was finding its mark. On the other hand, Ancic started to feel the pressure. While he was running down most of the shots his shots were not having much affect on the 22 year-old American. Roddick tore off the next two sets, 6-2, 6-1 and was up 4-2 in the fourth before Ancic started to figure things out. But it was too late. It took Roddick three match points, but he did it. And with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory, Roddick put the US on the board and the tie was even at 1-1.
 
Next up are Mike and Bob Bryan for the United States. At this point the Croatians will be forced to enter Ancic and Ljubicic into the doubles. The Croatian pair is not strangers to this, having paired together in 2004 at the Olympics to win the bronze medal. However, it is no small order for the Croatians. They are facing the most solid doubles team in the world in these identical twins, who are undefeated in Davis Cup play.  
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