Andy Roddick didn’t take the court for his first-round match until after 11 p.m., but the former U.S. Open champion didn’t mind.
“Late-night tennis is a part of the Open,” Roddick said. “The later the better.”
That was clear after the fifth seed cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Bjorn Phau at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 1:35.
The late start was due to a ceremony before the night session and a lengthy Venus Williams-Vera Dushevina match prior to Roddick’s.
Playing in front of his “idol,” Andre Agassi, Roddick got off to a solid start, in his first Grand Slam tournament since dropping an epic Wimbledon final to Roger Federer earlier this year.
That performance, which Roddick lost, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14, has endeared him to fans — perhaps more than any victory ever did.
Roddick rarely has been looked at as a sympathetic figure, but he was following that defeat. In this tournament, he’d rather not play the same role.
Last night, he had little trouble beyond when his right ear started bleeding in the second set, apparently the result of Roddick striking himself with his racket, but Roddick said he had “no idea” how it happened.
Roddick wasn’t slowed by the injury and after winning the first set in 25 minutes, he fell behind Phau, 3-1 in the second, before rallying and capturing the next five games. He next faces Marc Gicquel.
The victory was just the first step for Roddick, the last person other than Federer to win in Queens, in 2003.
Roddick garnered nearly as much respect, thanks to the Wimbledon defeat than anything else he’s done in his career and even though he’s only won one tournament this year, he has played well under new coach Larry Stefanki, whom he hired in December.
