Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick to Meet in Round 2 of Olympic Tennis at London

Andy Roddick defeated Martin Klizan of Slovakia on Day 3 of the Olympics and will face a sizable challenge from Novak Djokovic in Round 2 of the men’s tennis tournament.

It took an entire day of waiting for Roddick after the rain cancelled his Day 2 matchup. Once he got on the court, the unseeded American squeaked past Klizan in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4.

Klizan, though, is no Novak Djokovic. The Serbian star is the ATP’s No. 2-ranked player in the world, narrowly trailing Roger Federer by a mere 75 points.

Surprisingly, Roddick has won five of eight in the all-time Roddick-Djokovic series. Additionally, they have never met at Wimbledon. In their last meeting, at the Barclays ATP World Tour 2010 quarterfinals, Djokovic made short work of Roddick and dispatched him in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

However challenging the task at hand may be, Roddick seems to be in good spirits and isn’t backing down. According to ESPN.com, he said the following of his upcoming match with Djokovic:

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"The guy has been the best player in the world over the last couple of years. It's going to be tough. But the situation, we've both been through it a million times. I'm going to have to serve well and take some chances on returns."

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Serving is what Roddick does best. The taking chances part may come back to haunt him.

According to Christopher Torchia of the Associated Press (via Yahoo! Sports), Roddick may not need to worry, though, as the conditions at Wimbledon are deteriorating due to the proximity of the tournament to Wimbledon 2012. Per Torchia's report, Djokovic said:

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"There's not much you can do about it. There's an obvious change in the conditions, in the ball bounce, and in the speed of the court as well. We were just talking about it, most of the players actually agree that the bounce is lower, that the grass is maybe a little bit thicker and higher than in Wimbledon."

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This is only good news for Roddick because any detriment to the course can only do more to even the playing field between the two.

However, if Djokovic can overcome the conditions and play to his potential, there aren’t enough risks to take in the world that can help the American advance.

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