Roddick eases through

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:14

In hot conditions on Rod Laver Arena Roddick took just one hour 46 minutes to dispatch the Swede, who was playing a top 10 player for the first time.

While the American’s first serve was a little shaky at times he otherwise dominated and was able to capitalise on Rehnquist’s unforced errors to win the first seven games on the trot and from there on in the result was never in doubt.

Roddick, the seventh seed and three-time semi-finalist in Melbourne, broke the Swede’s serve three times on the way to a 6-0 first set.

Rehnquist, 31 and a boys’ singles champion at the Australian Open in 1996, finally got on the board in the second game of the second set but he was broken again in the fourth match to fall behind 4-1.

Although he rallied to hold his next service game, Roddick had too much class and firepower and he broke the Swede again to take the second set 6-2.

Roddick raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third set but Rehnquist held his serve twice in the set to claw it back to 4-2.

The American, who never really extended himself throughout, took the final two games to wrap up the match and set up a likely second round clash with Belgian Xavier Malisse.

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