Abby Brammell

By Sportsmail Reporter

Birthday boy: Roddick breezed into the second round at Flushing Meadows


American Andy Roddick celebrated his 28th birthday today with a comfortable first round victory in the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

Roddick, the ninth seed, dropped just seven games as he beat France's Stephane Robert 6-3 6-2 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the scene of his sole Grand Slam triumph.


The former world No 1 won the US Open in 2003 but has been unable to break the dominance enjoyed by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal since, losing three Wimbledon finals to Federer - most famously 16-14 in the fifth set of an epic contest last year.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling had a far tougher time against Austria's Andreas Haider-Maurer, the Swede being taken to five sets by his unknown opponent.

Soderling looked on course for an easy win when he won the first two sets, but Haider-Maurer stormed back into the contest thanks to some powerful serving.

However, Soderling delighted his small but noisy bunch of fans in the crowd by holding his nerve to win the decider and seal a 7-5 6-3 6-7 (2/7) 5-7 6-4 victory in three hours and 52 minutes.

France's Gael Monfils also needed five sets to beat American Robert Kendrick, the 17th seed winning 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 on Court 11.


Relief: Robin Soderling triumphed in five sets


Sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko had earlier begun his bid for a first Grand Slam title with an easy victory in the first round.

Davydenko beat American Michael Russell 6-4 6-1 6-3 to set up a second round clash with France's Richard Gasquet, who enjoyed a similarly comfortable victory, beating Germany's Simon Greul 6-3 6-4 6-2.

The 29-year-old Russian missed 11 weeks of the season after breaking his left wrist in March, since when he was won back to back matches just once, reaching the quarter-finals in Cincinnati recently before losing to Federer.

'For sure I will try always to play 100%, but you don't know what's going to happen,' Davydenko said. 'Five-set matches are really difficult, for sure. For sure I am a little bit tired today but not like 100 per cent tired. I really don't know if my physical condition is good for five sets. I need to see.

'I never say before or after my first match I am in very good shape and I can win the tournament. I just take it easy and just say, I'm okay.'

Asked what is the most difficult thing to rediscover after such


Easy win: Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in action in New York


'You are always practising. You can play forehand, backhand, but for sure it's important in the match what you need to do with forehand and backhand.'

Croatia's Marin Cilic, the 11th seed, also advanced with a 7-5 6-3 6-1 win over Illya Marchenko, while Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, the 22nd seed, thrashed Martin Klizan of Slovakia for the loss of just four games.


source: dailymail