Roddick shows some love to Tipsarevic

History seems to be whispering to Andy Roddick that a second major tournament title is just not in the cards. Roddick's annual U.S. Open letdown this time came at the hands of Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic, another early exit for the 2003 champion just at the stroke of midnight Wednesday.

Tipsarevic's 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (4) second-round victory qualified as an upset, similar to the crushing disappointment Tipsarevic delivered Roddick in the second round of Wimbledon two years ago.

Yet Roddick refused to attribute the latest major downer to a mild case of mononucleosis that recently cut into his training, and insisted that nothing should have been made of his third-set bickering with a lineswoman over a foot-fault call. "Zero impact on the match," Roddick said.

Instead, Roddick tipped the figurative cap to Tipsarevic's 66 winners versus 30 errors.

"It's a lot more frustrating," Roddick said, "when you're the one messing up time after time, as opposed to someone else coming up with the goods. Kudos to him. He played great. Obviously, it's not a lot of fun for me.

"I kept telling myself, 'You know, this has to have an expiration date on it.' Unfortunately, I needed another set for that."

Roddick, the No. 9 seed, has been a perennial top 10 player throughout his career, while Tipsarevic, at 26, never has been ranked higher than 33rd and, in 26 previous Grand Slam events, advanced as far as the fourth round only twice. His second-round dismissal of Roddick marks his deepest run in seven appearances at Flushing Meadows.

But along with his vaguely sinister appearance, the dark beard and tinted glasses, Tipsarevic brought a full match of clean ball strikes and heady decisions, taking timely chances and converting them.

"I'm not afraid," he said. "Playing Roddick, night session in New York with, I don't know, 20,000 people, it hardly gets bigger than that. I know that people will maybe remember this match, and tomorrow they will put me on Court 18-F or whatever."

In the meantime, Tipsarevic appreciated Roddick's postmatch greeting at the net. "He said, 'Well done, man. You played great.' And he said, 'You beat me at Wimbledon and now if you lose early again, I'm going to ... kill you.'

"Just to say those nice things after probably being really, really disappointed, I wanted to hug him."

Something Roddick could have used.