ROME, 3 May 2005 — Andy Roddick opened his European claycourt campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Greg Rusedski, as the top seeds all enjoyed comfortable victories in the opening round of the Rome Masters yesterday.
Roddick, who took over as No. 1 seed after Roger Federer withdrew due to a foot injury, was joined in the second round by former champion Andre Agassi, who beat wild card Alessio Di Mauro 7-5, 6-2.
Fourth seed Tim Henman underlined his newfound confidence on clay with a 6-3, 6-3 win over three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten.
Roddick was making his first competitive outing since winning the ATP claycourt event in Houston last month.
He gained the decisive break of the first set in the ninth game, drawing his opponent into the net before whipping over a crosscourt forehand that Rusedski could only dump into the net.
The Briton then netted a routine volley to drop serve at the start of the second set. Roddick broke again and held on to close out the contest.
The result came as a relief for the American, who was eliminated in the opening round of last year’s Rome tournament by Guillermo Canas.
Agassi, the 2002 champion, had to dig in during a tight first set against Di Mauro, who had a point to take a 5-3 lead.
Having lost the set, however, the Italian crumbled and Agassi next plays Richard Gasquet, who thrashed Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-2.
Last month the 18-year-old Gasquet knocked Federer out of the Monte Carlo Masters event — one of just two defeats the world No. 1 has suffered this year.
Henman’s win over Kuerten was due in part to unforced errors by the Brazilian, who is not yet back to his best following hip surgery last September.
Martinez Sees Off German Qualifier Mueller
In Berlin, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez fought off a brave comeback by qualifier Martina Mueller to reach the second round of the German Open claycourt tournament yesterday with a 6-0, 7-6 victory.
German Mueller pleased the crowd in Berlin’s Steffi Graf stadium as she found her form in the second set but it was not enough to beat the 33-year-old Spaniard, who won Wimbledon in 1994.
Former French Open champion Mary Pierce comfortably beat Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-3.
The 30-year-old Frenchwoman, ranked 27th in the world, broke serve early in the first set and looked confident throughout the second against the teenager.
The only seeds to play yesterday, Ai Sugiyama of Japan and Karolina Sprem of Croatia, were surprise first-round losers.
Sprem, seeded 16, went down to Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, while 14th seed Sugiyama lost to Chinese teenager Shuai Peng 7-5, 6-4.
Seven-time grand slam champion Serena Williams pulled out of the German Open last week with an ankle injury but the field for the $1.3 million claycourt tournament is still strong.
