Pacific Life Open Preview: Roddick vs. Acasuso

In the second round of the Pacific Life Open, Andy will take on Argentinian, Jose Acasuso. Andy received a bye into the second round as he is a seeded player and so had to wait to see who emerged from the match between Acasuso and Salzenstein(USA). The Argentine battled back from a set down against his American opponent to set up the clash with number three seed, Andy Roddick.

Acasuso, who was the ATP blogger last week in Acapulco, is a clay court specialist, and his results so far this year reflect that. Whilst he has won a tournament on clay already this year, in Vina Del Mar, he had failed to win a match on hard courts until his win yesterday.

The 23 year old Argentine has played Andy twice before, with the spoils being shared. They played most recently last year at the French Open, where Acasuso won a massive five set encounter to edge Andy out.

Speaking about Acasuso as a player before he played him last year, Andy said: “Obviously you’re not going to give him anything to hit. Can’t miss returns time after time and let him get through service games easily.”

Coming into Indian Wells Andy has been spending time with his new coach, John Roddick, looking at video tapes to assess Andy’s game. “When you’re playing, you’re constantly adjusting to stuff. It was just an easier reminder to see what was working when I was playing well and it was interesting. It brought something to the table and I was intrigued by it.” The confidence Andy took from this new strategy will hopefully help he as he takes on Acasuso tonight.

The order of play has been released for today and Andy has been scheduled as the first night match on Stadium One. The session begins at 7pm local time. Good Luck Andy!