Andy Roddick makes winning start in Washington
Andy Roddick has led the local charge into the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, defeating qualifier Grega Zemlja 6-4, 6-4 in his second round match.
The second seed was dominant on serve, losing just three points on his first serve and six on his second, as he wrapped up the victory in one hour and 24 minutes.
Roddick’s victory lines up a third round clash with France’s Gilles Simon, who raced to victory over qualifier Igor Kunitsyn in just 52 minutes in his second round match.
Also joining three-time champion Roddick in the third round are American counterparts John Isner, Mardy Fish and qualifier Ryan Sweeting, who followed up his first-round win over wildcard James Blake with at 6-4, 6-2 defeat of 14th seed Michael Llodra in the second. Next up for Sweeting is third seed Fernando Verdasco, who took three sets to claim victory over Germany’s Michael Berrer in his opening match.
Fifth seeded Isner won his second round match against Thiemo De Bakker 7-6(6), 7-6(8) in one hour and 48 minutes, the match perhaps providing a truer indication of how the pair match up against one another than their second round meeting at Wimbledon just after the 6ft 9in Isner fell over the line in the 11-hour and 183-game first-round marathon against Nicolas Mahut.
Fish, who has claimed two consecutive titles on hard courts in the USA this summer, defeated Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3 and will now play fourth seed Marin Cilic in the third round.
American No. 3 Sam Querrey, fresh from winning the Los Angeles title last weekend, begins his Washington campaign against Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic today. Also scheduled to play their first matches of the tournament today, after receiving first round byes are top seed and Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, and 11th seed and 2004 Washington champion Lleyton Hewitt.
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