LONDON, 15 June 2006 — Champion Andy Roddick’s bid for an unprecedented fourth successive Stella Artois title got off to a stuttering start with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic yesterday.

Three days after capturing a second French Open title, top seed Rafael Nadal made a seamless transition to grass and joined Roddick in the third round. He outclassed American wildcard Mardy Fish 7-6, 6-1 on a blustery and overcast day at Queen’s Club.

Lleyton Hewitt, a former three-times winner, also made it through after edging past Spain’s Fernando Vicente 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Briton Andy Murray was, however, caught cold when he was beaten 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in a rain-interrupted first round match.

The Scot’s exit left Tim Henman, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado in the second round, as the sole British survivor.

Roddick, whose only defeats on grass over the last two years have been to Roger Federer at the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals, initially came unstuck against an opponent who normally competes on the lower Challenger circuit.

Dancevic could barely believe his luck when he broke the world number five for a second time to bag the first set in just 20 minutes with a backhand service return winner.

Roddick was not in the mood to relinquish his crown without a fight and came back strongly to seal the win after Dancevic dragged the ball long.

Nadal’s gamble to compete in London rather than Halle this week paid off after he chalked up only his second win on grass in the last 12 months.

With rain having wiped out all but six matches on Tuesday, Tipsarevic was forced to play again on Wednesday and failed to reproduce the heroics against Robby Ginepri.

Second seed Ivan Ljubicic began his grasscourt campaign with a stylish 7-6, 6-2 win over Romania’s Razvan Sabau but fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko perished.

The bad weather also forced former Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis to work overtime and he eliminated French 11th seed Sebastien Grosjean 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 in his second match of the day.

Federer Wins First Grasscourt Match of Season

In Berlin, Wimbledon champion Roger Federer won his first grasscourt match of the season on Wednesday when he beat Indian qualifier Rohan Bopanna 7-6, 6-2 in the Halle International.

Three days after losing the French Open final to Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the Swiss proved too strong for the Indian number one who was playing in only his second ATP event this year.

Federer, a three-time winner in Halle, won the first set tiebreak 7-4 before sealing his 37th successive win on grass.

Sharapova Seeks Missing Groove on Grass

In Birmingham, Maria Sharapova’s first match on grass since she lost to Venus Williams in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals ended in a comfortable 6-4, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Ahsha Rolle yesterday.

But the Russian glamor girl was, by her own admission, some way below her best as she moved into the third round of the DFS Classic, where she is bidding to become the first woman to land three consecutive titles.

Sania Mirza reached the third round of a WTA Tour event for the first time in eight months yesterday, overcoming fitness worries, rain-sodden conditions, and Shenay Perry in three sets at the DFS Classic.

The Indian star, who has been struggling with back problems this year, was in decent enough shape against the world number 72 from the United States to underline her considerable potential on grass with a 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 victory.

The world number 41 from Hyderabad delivered uninhibited flat hitting which causes the ball to stay down lower on this surface, making it a potent threat, and she was unafraid to take risks on the big points.

On a day, which produced no major upsets, Francesca Schiavone, seeded second behind Sharapova, was made to work hard by Venezuela’s Maria Vento-Kabchi, before pulling through 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.