Roddick Falls in Finals in Return to Queens Club

Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez defeated American Andy Roddick 6-4, 2-6, 10-4 at the Statoil Masters final on Sunday at London’s Royal Albert Hall. In Gonzalez’s first outing on the ATP Champions Tour he outlasted the hard-hitting Roddick in a third-set tiebreaker to capture the title.

“This is great to win this tournament,” said Gonzalez. “This week has been amazing and I enjoyed this match against Andy a lot. It was very tough, we had very long points, and my body will feel bad tomorrow!”

Roddick was back playing at the Queens Club for the first time since he retired in 2012 and was back at the London facility for the first time as an honorary Wimbledon member. He was originally made an honorary member in 2013 but received his official Wimbledon tie last Thursday.

“I was really humbled. There are a lot of things that we definitely take for granted having been in the tennis world over many years, but that was one where I was a little bit floored by it,” Roddick told the Tennis Podcast. “It is something I didn’t expect at all, you never feel worthy or deserving of such a big honor, and to kind of go there the other day and go to members parts that I had never been to before was very surreal.”

The Queens Club has been the sight of some of Roddick’s toughest losses. He reached the Wimbledon final three times (2004, 2005 and 2009) before losing to Roger Federer in each of the three title matches.

He made his debut at the Statoil Masters with a 6-4, 6-3 win over two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera on Friday. Despite losing to Gonzalez in the Sunday final, Roddick embraced the whole experience.

“Fernando played great today. I kind of knew I would be in trouble if I had to play him because he’s still so good,” said Roddick. “But it was fun, I think the crowd enjoyed it and I certainly enjoyed my week here. I don’t know if you can ever prepare yourself for a venue like this. It’s one thing seeing it in the pictures, where it is impressive in its own right. But then to play it and experience it was a real treat for me.”

The Statoil Masters is the final event on the ATP Champions Tour this year. The next tournament on the tour is not till mid-February when it stops in Florida for the Delray Beach Open.