DOHA: American fourth seed Andy Roddick and fifth seeded Gael Monfils of France reached the second round of the Qatar Open with easy wins in Doha yesterday.
Roddick beat Spaniard Ivan Navarro 6-1, 6-3 in a little over an hour while Monfils outplayed Czech Republic’s Jan Hernych in a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
“I didn’t do anything stupid,” said Roddick. “I was pretty happy with the way I played.” Monfils, who lost to Roger Federer in the 2006 final in Doha, was too good for Hernych. The Frenchman won the first set in quick time, breaking his opponent in the fourth and eighth games, and took a 5-1 lead in the second before seeing off a short-lived fightback from Hernych and clinching the win in 55 minutes.
“It was a good match to start the season,” said Monfils. “If I win one more match, then I should run into Rafa (Nadal). “I have been practicing hard and did everything perfectly today.” The tournament’s top three seeds — Nadal, Federer and Andy Murray — were not in action yesterday.
