MELBOURNE, Jan 18: Second seed Andy Roddick needed time to get untracked, but managed to roll out his attacking game in time to overcome Irakli Labadze 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 for a place in the second round of the 14.7-million-dollar Australian Open on Tuesday.
The American, working with new coach Dean Gold fine after dumping previous high-profile mentor Brad Gilbert in the close season, played through discomfort from an ankle he jammed last week as he reached the final of the Kooyong Classic only to lose - again - to Roger Federer.
"It feels fine," said Roddick of his ankle. "It's a little uncomfortable, but it's nothing that's going to stop me from playing." Roddick fired over a modest 11 aces, breaking Labadze five times in 90 minutes.
Roddick managed to lift for a late break in the opening set, taking it and opening the floodgates as he won 14 of the last 17 games. The Melbourne semi-finalist two years ago will next play Briton Greg Rusedski, who knocked out Swede Jonas Bjorkman 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-6 (9-7).
"It wasn't great tennis in the first set," admitted Roddick, who increased the frustration factor for world No. 75 Labadze of Georgia, loser of every match he's played over the past seven months. "I started hitting the ball a little bit better in the last two sets."
Seeded Argentines Guillermo Coria and Guillermo Canas both pulled through, with sixth seed Coria ousting Czech Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 and Canas helping to heap more misery on Australia as he dismissed Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, No. 14, defeated compatriot Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Women's No. 10 Alicia Molik provided the day's bright spot for the hosts by finally closing out after six match points Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-3.
Molik, champion at Sydney at the weekend, couldn't hide her contentment as her chances of success at home increase on the back of top form. "I started off fantastically well, I was on the front foot from the beginning. I had her on the back foot and really put the pressure on.
"That's the way that I like to play. Right from the word go I felt very comfortable. I felt like I was spot-on my game." Anastasia Myskina, the Russian third seed, produced an efficient effort as she crushed Kveta Peschke 6-1, 6-4, though the Czech gave her fits in a second-set comeback effort.
"I think it was a good match, especially after Sydney (where she lost her first match). In the second set she started to play a little bit better, and I did a couple more mistakes and unforced errors," said Myskina, the French Open champion.
Two other seeds advanced as No. 13 Croatian Karolina Sprem stopped Australian Monique Adamczak 6-2, 6-3 and 14th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone beat Marta Marrero of Spain 6-3, 6-2.
RESULTS:
WOMEN'S SINGLES (FIRST ROUND): Klara Koukalova bt Meilen Tu 6-3, 6-3; Tathiana Garbin bt Marlene Weingartner 7-5, 7-6 (7/5); Daniela Hantuchova bt Akiko Morigami 6-4, 7-5; Nicole Vaidisova bt Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2; Lisa Raymond bt Anastasiya Yakimova 6-0, 6-1; Anna Chakvetadze bt Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3, 6-2; Alicia Molik bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-3; Francesca Schiavone bt Marta Marrero 6-3, 6-2; Jelena Kostanic bt Casey Dellacqua 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Anastasia Myskina bt Kveta Peschke 6-1, 6-4; Aiko Nakamura bt Angela Hayes 6-3, 6-4; Mashona Washington bt Catalina Castano 6-2, 6-3; Karolina Sprem bt Monique Adamczak 6-2, 6-3; Barbara Schett bt Tiffany Welford 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; Peng Shuai bt Maria Elena Camerin 6-1, 6-2; Tatiana Panova bt Antonella Serra Zanetti 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; Jelena Jankovic bt Nicole Pratt 6-1, 6-3; Michaela Pastikova bt Anne Kremer 6-4, 6-4; Nathalie Dechy bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-4, 6-3; Evie Dominikovic bt Mara Santangelo 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn bt Barbora Strycova 6-0, 6-2; Tatiana Golovin bt Ludmila Cervanova 6-3, 7-5; Patty Schnyder bt Yuliana Fedak 6-1, 6-1; Elena Dementieva bt Alyona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-3; Michaella Krajicek bt Stephanie Foretz 6-2, 6-1; Elena Likhovtseva bt Sanda Mamic 6-3, 6-3; Anna Smashnova bt Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 4-6, 6-0, 6-0; Abigail Spears bt Meghann Shaughnessy 1-6, 6-2, 6-2; Venus Williams bt Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 7-5; Tzipora Oblizer bt Emilie Loit 7-6 (13/11), 6-4; Lindsay Davenport bt Conchita Martinez 6-1, 6-0; Tatiana Perebiynis bt Capucine Rousseau 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
MEN'S SINGLES (FIRST ROUND): Mikhail Youzhny bt Jerome Haehnel 6-2, 6-2, 7-5; Andrei Pavel bt Olivier Mutis 6-4, 6-4, 6-0; Fernando Verdasco bt Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-0, 6-4; Guillermo Coria bt Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-0; Sebastien Grosjean bt Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4, 6-3; Guillermo Canas bt Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4); Jan Hernych bt Felix Mantilla 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-0; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Wayne Arthurs 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/1); Greg Rusedski bt Jonas Bjorkman 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-6 (9/7); Bobby Reynolds bt Nicolas Almagro 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/5); Jurgen Melzer bt Raemon Sluiter 3-3 (ret); Radek Stepanek bt Vincent Spadea 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Ricardo Mello bt Alberto Martin 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5); Rafael Nadal bt Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-4, 6-2; Igor Andreev bt Lars Burgsmuller 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2; Andy Roddick bt Irakli Labadze 7-5, 6-2, 6-1; Jean-Rene Lisnard bt Oliver Marach 5-7, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5; Fernando Gonzalez bt Jose Acasuso 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero bt Melle Van Gemerden 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Kenneth Carlsen 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-1; Gregory Carraz bt Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5); Nikolay Davydenko bt Roko Karanusic 6-2, 7-5, 6-2; Christophe Rochus bt Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; David Nalbandian (ARG x9) bt David Ferrer7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; James Blake bt Florian Mayer 6-1, 6-2, 6-0; Victor Hanescu bt Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1); Santiago Ventura bt Alex Calatrava 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; Nathan Healey bt Flavio Saretta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 5-0 (ret);Mariano Zabaleta bt Marc Kimmich 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3; Nicolas Massu bt Antony Dupuis 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-2;Tim Henman bt Cyril Saulnier 6-1, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Lleyton Hewitt bt Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. -Agencies
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