Roddick gains quarterfinal

Friday, July 22, 2005 | 10:31 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Two-time defending champion Andy Roddick recorded his 12th consecutive victory at the RCA Championships on Thursday night, advancing into the quarterfinals along with three other Americans.

Roddick beat Israel's Noam Okun, 6-3, 6-3 in the evening feature match.

"I'm surprised we didn't get rained on," said Roddick, who converted three of his five break points and saved the only one he faced.

Weather conditions changed rapidly during the 68-minute match in which Roddick had nine aces to add to his tour-leading total of 590.

Roddick joined No. 4-seed Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri and Paul Goldstein in advancing to the next round at the Indianapolis Tennis Center.

Dent defeated Germany's Bjorn Phau 6-2, 6-2. Ginepri upset ninth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-4 in 46 minutes, and Goldstein beat Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador 6-3, 6-2.

Roddick and Okun, who last met in a quarterfinal match in Las Vegas in 2000, each held serve until the sixth game of the opening set.

Roddick got the edge by winning four consecutive points, and closed out the set by holding his final two games. He went up 5-3 by holding in the longest game of the match. It went 12 points with Roddick surviving a break point with an ace after doublefaulting on the previous point.

Nadal, the top seed, ended the match in 70 minutes against 54th-ranked Zib. Nadal is trying for his sixth consecutive tournament championship on clay.

"I played almost as good as yesterday," said Nadal, who routed 19-year-old Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2 in their match on Thursday. "I just have a good feeling for the ball right now."

Nadal will meet unseeded Jarkko Niemenen in the semifinals. Niemenen beat Italy's Andreas Seppi, 6-2, 6-3.

Morigami will meet Sania Mirza on Friday in the quarterfinals of the $170,000 Tier III tournament. Mirza, who beat Morigami in the first round at Wimbledon, defeated Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Top-seeded Puerta of Argentina defeated Costa Rican qualifier Juan Antonio Marin for the fifth time in eight meetings. Second-seeded Gonzalez of Chile beat Czech Robin Vik.

Pennetta rallied from 6-1, 3-0 down and will face countrywoman Roberta Vinci on Friday.