Andy Roddick is taking a new, lighter approach to the clay-court season.
After eliminating Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the Italian Open, top-seeded Roddick said he has lost 2,25kg off his 1,88m frame.
”I worked a lot harder off the court with my fitness,” Roddick said. ”I think last year I was a little bit heavy, especially for clay, that’s where you see it most.”
At last year’s French Open, Roddick lost in five sets to unheralded Olivier Mutis in the second round.
The previous two years he lost in the first round of the clay-court major, and in 2001 Roddick retired with a hamstring injury against Lleyton Hewitt during a third-round match in Paris.
The €2-million Italian Open, the fourth Masters Series event of the year, is a major tune-up for Roland Garros, the only grand slam in which Roddick hasn’t reached the semifinals.
”It’s just a matter of getting into that comfort zone, and it’s harder for me on clay than other surfaces,” Roddick said, adding that he used an injury lay-off after the Nasdaq-100 Open in March to improve his form.
”After Miami my wrist was in a splint for about 10 days. I saw that as a very good opportunity to try to get in as good shape as I could,” Roddick said.
Roddick’s form looked fine against Rusedski, improving his record this season to 24-4.
Also, sixth-seeded Andre Agassi, winner of the Rome title in 2002, beat Italian wild card Alessio di Mauro 7-5, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Tim Henman of Britain eliminated three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil 6-3, 6-3.
Albert Costa, the 2002 French Open champion, and French qualifier Richard Gasquet also won.
In the night match, Italian wild card Andreas Seppi upset 10th-seeded Joachim Johansson of Sweden 6-1, 6-2.
Roddick, who won the United States Men’s Clay-Court Championships title in Houston eight days ago, became the top-seeded player after Roger Federer and Hewitt withdrew.
Roddick took control against Rusedski with a break to go up 5-4 in the first set, forcing the Briton to stretch for a volley that ended up in the net. The American then won the next five games and closed out the match when Rusedski returned a serve long.
The 44th-ranked Rusedski, a serve-and-volley specialist, extended his slow start to the season. He has not made it to the third round of any tournament, including the Australian Open, where Roddick beat him in the second round.
Despite his seeding, Roddick agreed he was not the favourite in Rome.
”You can only go on past results. Obviously, the last couple of years over here I haven’t played my best tennis, so it would be tough to make a case for me to argue,” he said. ”I feel as good as I ever have coming over here on the clay. This is the most prepared I’ve been.”
Agassi also faced stiff resistance from Di Mauro in the first set, which lasted one hour and 10 minutes.
After trading breaks early, Di Mauro consistently matched an unusually error-prone Agassi on long rallies, and the American required a precise forehand winner up the line to break for a 6-5 lead, then saved a break point against him before winning the set.
The second set took only 28 minutes.
”It was very tough today. We had never played each other before,” Agassi said. ”It was a very close first set. Once I got my confidence, I played better.”
Agassi finished with 33 unforced errors, more than twice as many as Di Mauro’s 16. The eight-time grand-slam champion also had 35 winners to the Italian’s 12.
Agassi, who turned 35 on Friday, is seeking his first tournament win of the year. He has not won since capturing his lone title of 2004 at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
Henman, trying to find the clay-court form that took him to the French Open semifinals last year, lost his serve just once against Kuerten.
Kuerten returned last month after a six-month lay-off following hip surgery. He is ranked 110th.
”He’s coming back from injury, but it’s still a great win for me to beat Guga on this surface,” Henman said. ”I felt like I played really well.”
Gasquet, who upset Federer before losing to Rafael Nadal in the Monte Carlo Masters semifinals last month, easily dispatched Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-2.
The 18-year-old Frenchman will meet Agassi in the second round.
Spain’s Costa beat countryman Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-4. — Sapa-AP