Andy Roddick began his challenge for a record fifth Queen’s title with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 second round victory over Kristof Vliegen at the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event on Tuesday.
Roddick has always been at home on the grass courts of west London and the second seed was quickly back in the old routine.
The American suffered only his third defeat in eight visits to Queen’s when he was beaten at the semi-final stage by Rafael Nadal last year.
PHOTO: REUTERS
But he has been playing with renewed verve since acting on new coach Larry Stefanki’s advice to lose weight earlier this year and Vliegen, a Belgian ranked 89th, was no match for the former Wimbledon finalist.
Roddick’s powerful serve and bruising ground-strokes make him a formidable opponent on grass and he was soon on top, breaking Vliegen in his opening service game and taking the first set in the blink of an eye.
The 2003 US Open champion was pushed a little harder in the second set as Vliegen gradually found some composure. But Roddick was never flustered and broke in the ninth game before serving out the match with a series of aces.
It was also a good day for Roddick’s compatriots.
James Blake, seeded sixth, claimed a third round place with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory against dangerous Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
Blake, a Queen’s runner-up in 2006, strolled through the first set. The second was much closer but Blake held his nerve to take the tie-break.
Sam Querrey set up an all-US tie against Blake as he brushed aside South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-3.
Mardy Fish, the US eighth seed, showed impressive resilience as he moved into the third round by beating France’s Michael Llodra 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
Fish will play Feliciano Lopez next after the Spanish 10th seed defeated Denis Istomin 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Gael Monfils, the French fourth seed, played through the pain barrier to beat Andrey Golubev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Monfils looked in trouble when he needed a strapping on his left wrist after falling awkwardly in the seventh game of the second set.
But a rain delay immediately after the injury gave Monfils time to recover and, although Kazakhstan’s Golubev won the second set, it was Monfils, showing tremendous grit, who reached the third round.
■FEDERER PULLS OUT
AFP, HALLE, GERMANY
Roger Federer admitted on Tuesday exhaustion has forced him out of Halle’s ATP tournament as new top seed Novak Djokovic cruised through to the second round.
Federer, who beat Sweden’s Robin Soderling in Sunday’s Roland Garros final to win the last of the Grand Slam titles to evade him, announced on Tuesday evening he is “overwhelmed” and will not defend his Halle title.
Djokovic enjoyed a straight sets win over Italy’s Simone Bolelli earlier in the day.
The Serb needed just one hour and 24 minutes to see off the big-hitting Italian 7-5, 6-2 and after a close first set Djokovic used his superior mobility to take the second set with ease.
Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed just over an hour to reach the second round when he beat compatriot Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-2 in another easy win.
Third seed Fernando Verdasco made a first-round exit when he was beaten by Germany’s Philipp Petzschner 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
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