A-Rod powers through US opener

7:47am Thursday 28th August 2008

World number eight Andy Roddick produced a serving masterclass to begin his quest for a second US Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 6-2 straight-sets victory over Fabrice Santoro on Wednesday.

Roddick, who claimed his only Grand Slam victory on the US Open hardcourt in 2003, had little trouble against Santoro as he raced through the first set in 25 minutes. He then used his blistering serve to record 15 aces, while he lost just four points on his first serve en route to dispatching his opponent in 76 minutes.

"I served real well, and that's going to be key at this tournament," said Roddick said, who will next face Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, a straight-sets first-round winner over Thomas Johansson.

Also on Wednesday, third-seed Novak Djokovic overcame an ankle injury to defeat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3 6-3 6-4, while fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko also advanced courtesy of a 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over Israel's Dudi Sela.

Last year's beaten finalist Djokovic breezed through the first two sets, but an ankle injury in the fourth game of the third set temporarily halted his charge, until he wrapped up the win to reach the second round for the fourth time in as many career attempts.

After the match, Djokovic downplayed the injury, saying: "It's OK. It's going to be good in two days, I'm sure."

Davydenko was making his first appearance in a Grand Slam since his opening-round upset at Wimbledon in June, but looked outstanding as he outclassed his feisty Israeli opponent.

He converted six breaks, including three in the third set, to wrap up the win in just over two hours to set up a second round meeting with Argentina's Agustin Calleri, who defeated American Austin Krajicek in straight sets.

"It was very surprising," said Davydenko, who has suffered nine first-round losses in majors since 2001. "I played good for the first round, because I'm always nervous and my confidence is not so great just in the beginning of tournaments."

Seeds Nicolas Almagro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Dmitry Tursunov, Radek Stepanek and and Marin Cili also advanced along with Sam Warburg, Robby Ginepri, Carlos Moya, Victor Hanescu and Chris Guccione.

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