Top-ranked Andy Roddick unloaded 20 aces on Fernando Gonzalez in a 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win yesterday at the Australian Open, his first major as men's No. 1.
The US Open champion got a lucky line call to get set point in the second and went behind 3-5 in the third until Gonzalez' erratic forehand let the Chilean down.
Roddick broke Gonzalez in the third set's 10th game and then held in the 11th, taking a 6-5 lead with a kicking second serve that forced an error on game point.
Gonzalez held to force a tiebreaker but conceded three match points with a forehand that sailed over the baseline. He surrendered the match with a wide forehand.
The 21-year-old Roddick acknowledged he'd had a difficult draw, facing the powerful, 34th-ranked Gonzalez in the first round.
"I don't think it was a good draw for either of us," he said. "Fortunately I got a little lucky there."
A semifinalist at Melbourne Park last year, Roddick knows things have changed since he's risen to the top of the ATP rankings.
"I got more guys gunning for me," he said. One of those is defending champion Andre Agassi, who was facing Australian wild card entry Todd Larkham later Monday.
Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne had an easy opening match in the women's draw, overpowering 15-year-old Olivia Lukaszewicz 6-0, 6-0.
Henin-Hardenne, the French and US Open winner last year, needed only 45 minutes to beat the Australian wild-card entry in the second match of the first day at Rod Laver Arena.
"I'm happy with the way I'm playing, I'm in good form," the Belgian star said. "It can be a long two weeks, so ... it's good not stay out there in the sun."
Earlier, Swedish teenager Robin Soderling upset 2003 runner-up Rainer Schuettler 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
Schuettler, seeded sixth, won the first two sets and had a break point at 5-5 in the third, but the 19-year-old Soderling -- playing just his fourth Grand Slam event -- rallied to win. Soderling closed the match with two aces.
Schuettler hasn't won a match in three tournaments this month
"I've had a pretty tough three weeks now," said Schuettler. "I had great memories from last year. Of course there was a bit of pressure, but that's not the reason I didn't win."
Seventh-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain withdrew about two hours before his match against American James Blake. The 1998 French Open champion sprained his right ankle in the final of a tuneup event Saturday in Sydney. Peru's Ivan Miranda replaced Moya in the draw.
"I would have loved to play. Unfortunately, I'm not able," said Moya, who only needed a 20-minute hitting session to realize he wouldn't last the first set.
Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui -- who lost 21-19 in the fifth set of a quarterfinal last year against Roddick, the longest fifth set in an Open-era Grand Slam -- lasted five games against Spain's Galo Blanco before withdrawing because of tendinitis in his right foot.
"The pain is terrible, it's like a knife going into my heal whenever I push," El Aynaoui said.
Henin-Hardenne, who beat France's Amelie Mauresmo in Sydney on Saturday for her first title of the year, saved four break points in the fourth game and two in the sixth game of the second set. She double-faulted on her first match point, but won on her next when Lukaszewicz's backhand went long.
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