Sport | Tennis
Roddick cruises through first match of the season with powerful display
US star Andy Roddick powered his way into the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Spaniard Ivan Navarro at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex last night.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:35 January 5, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- Andy Roddick returns the ball to Ivan Navarro of Spain at the Qatar Open in Doha.
Doha: US star Andy Roddick powered his way into the second round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Spaniard Ivan Navarro at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex last night.
Fourth seed Roddick was always in control during the 61 minutes spent on court as he sent down eight aces - four in each set - to beat a struggling opponent.
Navarro had seven double faults and the American dominated with a fine serve and volley display.
"It's always good to get the first round out of the way, and that too in such a way," said Roddick.
"I've put in a lot of hard work during the off-season and that is paying off," he added.
Roddick, the defending champion of the Barclays Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, was off to a swift start notching two breaks to take the set 6-1 in under 25 minutes.
The second set looked closer with some fine rallies as Navarro tried to vary his game by coming to the net more often.
Navarro stayed in touch, trailing 3-4, but Roddick took the next two points and the set and match 6-3.
Roddick said: "Today was okay for me considering that it is just the start of the season. I was pretty solid in my game."
In his first serious match of the season, Roddick produced 30 winners and took four out of nine break points. He was a bit rusty with 11 unforced errors, but his opponent made 16.
His opponent in the second round will be the winner of the match between Argentinean Diego Junqueiro and wild card Arnaud Clement.
In an earlier match, Frenchman Gael Monfils cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic.
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