Eastbourne 2012 Prize Money: Roddick wins €72K for Title

Sixth seed Andy Roddick continued his streak of winning an ATP title every year for the past 12 years when he dismissed reigning AEGON International champion Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2 in Eastbourne Saturday. This title winning streak matches Roger Federer’s streak of winning at least one ATP World Tour title in 12 straight seasons. The win was a perfect Wimbledon preparation for the former world no. 1 player and earned him €72,950 in prize money and 250 ranking points. Seppi took home €38,400 as runner-up along with 150 ranking points.

“I wanted to keep alive winning one tournament a year for 12 years. I know three or four people have done that,’ Roddick said. “I need to remind myself of those numbers just to [remember] this is a what-did-you-do-last-week-type sport? So looking back on that, maybe I need to look at those a little bit more and realise that I've done this for a long time pretty well.” The American wild card won 55 per cent of his return points to break Seppi five times. Roddick clinched the trophy on his first championship point to claim victory in 72 minutes. He improved to 2-0 against the third-seeded Seppi.

“I don't remember the last time I got broken twice and won 3 and 2. I felt real good,” said Roddick. “My returns this week were close to as well as I have. I was able to close well. I started off not serving great and then made an adjustment. I think I served 90 per cent in the second set, which is a pretty strong number, especially given the conditions.”

The triumph marks Roddick’s 31st career title, with five of them coming on grass. He is the first American to finish in the winners' circle this season.
Andy Roddick won his first title in over a year when he defeated defending champion Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday to win the Eastbourne grasscourt title, a perfectly-timed boost ahead of Wimbledon.

The American, a three-time finalist at the All England Club, is aged 29 and ranked 33rd, has been troubled by injury and illness for the past several seasons but may have turned a corner with his 72-minute confidence-building win over the Italian. He came to the event as a wildcard after losing his sixth match in a row last week in an early Queen's club exit.

Roddick will be seeded 30 at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, where he starts against Briton Jamie Baker. With the victory, Roddick rises up 8 spots to become world no. 25 when the new rankings are released on Monday, June 25. The losing semifinalists, Ryan Harrison and Steve Darcis, each won €20,805 in prize money and 90 ranking points. Roddick's victory will increase his 2012 prize money beyond $270,000 - he was at 94th place with $172K in earnings prior to the tournament.

2012 ATP Prize Money Leaders (US$)

1. Nadal, Rafael $4,961,419
2 Djokovic, Novak $4,789,340
3 Federer, Roger $3,696,441
4 Ferrer, David $1,627,120
5 Murray, Andy $1,430,310
6 Berdych, Tomas $1,312,471
7 Del Potro, Juan Martin $1,286,353
8 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried $938,374
9 Almagro, Nicolas $915,143
10 Tipsarevic, Janko $895,868
...
91 Mayer, Leonardo $180,152
92 Goffin, David $176,148
93 Roddick, Andy $171,978