Andy Roddick Unbreakable in Basel Return, Keeps Pressure On Fellow Competitors

Andy Roddick was dealt a tough draw. His first round opponent in the Swiss Indoors Basel field was fellow American Sam Querrey. Roddick is 4-2 all-time against Querrey, but dropped a tough three-set decision in Memphis in the pair's last meeting.

This time Roddick came out on top in tough sets, 7-5, 7-6 (6).

Roddick was making his first appearance at the tournament since 2003, where he lost in the semifinals to David Nalbandian. Roddick currently sits in the last qualifying spot for the year-end championships, but only holds a 155 point lead over Fernando Verdasco. The 28-year-old has not won a tournament since Miami in March, one of only two tour titles this year.

Roddick came out strong in the first set, only losing five points in his six service games. The 22nd ranked Querrey served cold at 51 percent, and Roddick converted his only break chance of the set to take the set, 7-5.

Roddick only hit three aces in the first set but came out firing in the second, smacking 13 to only seven for Querrey. Querrey, however, upped his first serve percentage to 70 and saved the only break point he faced. Roddick also faced a break point, but Querrey couldn't cash in on the chance and the set quickly moved to a tie-breaker.

Querrey could not overcome Roddick's 76 percent first-serve rate as Roddick captured the tiebreak, 8-6.

Next up for Roddick is surging Andrey Golubev, who Roddick has never played. A victory over Golubev could mean a potential chance at avenging his loss to Nalbandian in 2003.