Flushing Meadows, NY – Former champion Andy Roddick was a routine first-round winner Tuesday at the U.S. Open.
The 20th-seeded former world No. 1 handled 21-year-old American qualifier Rhyne Williams 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 at Ashe Stadium. The big-serving Roddick fired 20 aces en route to the second round.
The 29-year-old Roddick captured his lone Grand Slam title at the 2003 U.S. Open and was the 2006 runner-up in New York.
Fifth-seeded former Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got past Slovak Karol Beck 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) in an error-filled match, while sixth- seeded Czech and former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych handled promising Belgian David Goffin, making his U.S. Open debut, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. The French Tsonga was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year.
Meanwhile, 11th-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro held off Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4 and 15th-seeded rising Canadian Milos Raonic launched 30 aces in going the distance to stave off game Colombian Santiago Giraldo in five sets, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in 3 hours, 25 minutes. This marked Raonic's first-ever win in the main draw at the U.S. Open.
Tall American Sam Querrey, seeded 27th at this fortnight, swatted 21 aces and came from behind to beat Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in just over three hours.
Also advancing on Day 2 were, Taiwan's Jimmy Wang, Belgian Steve Darcis, Spaniard Pablo Andujar, German Philipp Petzschner, and Russian-born American Dennis Novikov, who bested 6-foot-8 Pole Jerzy Janowicz 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-3.
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