Playing in his home state has been very advantageous for Andy Roddick.
The top seed and a native of Austin, Texas, won his third title at the US Men's Clay Court Championships with a dominant 6-2 6-2 victory over sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean of France on Sunday in Houston.
Appearing in the final of this 380,000 event for the fifth straight year, the 22-year-old American did not drop a set in all four of his matches en route to his first title on the red clay since 2002.
"It's my mom's company at dinner, maybe," said Roddick, who improved 23-2 in clay court matches here.
"I have always felt very comfortable here."
The streak of five straight finals appearances at one event is the longest on the ATP Tour since Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov reached six straight in Moscow between 1996-01. The five straight finals at the US Clay Court Championships is the most since Bill Tilden won the title six years in a row between 1922-1927.
Playing in his first event since being forced to withdraw from his second-round match in the Nasdaq-100 in late March with a wrist injury, Roddick captured his second title on American soil this year, having won in San Jose in
February.
"I felt good, felt like I was really strong with my forehand," Roddick said.
"I put a lot of pressure on him with that shot."
He entered the match with a 4-1 career record against Grosjean, including a straight-sets victory in their last meeting at the final of the Queen's Club - a Wimbledon tune-up - last year.
Roddick jumped all over Grosjean's serve in the first set, breaking him twice to take a 4-1 lead.
In the second, Roddick broke the Frenchman once again in the third game before cruising to his 23rd win in his last 27 matches.
Overall, Roddick converted 4-of-10 break chances.
"Against the top guys, if you don't hold your serve and you're behind early, they don't let you in," said Grosjean, who won just 50 percent of his service points, compared to 75 percent for Roddick.
The 2003 US Open champion received 52,000 for his victory.
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