Roddick romps into round two

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:05

The American, the winner of the tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2008, claimed a 6-1 7-6 (7/1) victory over qualifier Ryler Deheart as he began his bid to reclaim the title in his ninth appearance.

Roddick, who was playing in his first match since the Australian Open, will now meet Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the second round.

Radek Stepanek, who was looking to reach his third final in three appearances and lost to Roddick in 2008, was eliminated in the first round.

The third seed from the Czech Republic was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who will now meet Michael Russell in the second round.

In the day’s other first-round contest, Fernando Verdasco of Spain prevailed 6-3 6-7 (8/10) 6-3 against Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei and will next meet Germany’s Benjamin Becker.

There were three second-round contests, with fourth seed Tommy Haas joining Stepanek in falling out of the tournament. Haas was beaten 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

Istomin will meet Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals after the sixth-seeded German defeated Dudi Sela 6-2 6-0.

Fifth seed Tomas Berdych beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3 6-2. Berdych will meet Roddick or Mayer in the last eight.

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