Tennis Australian Open: The oven door was ajar and the heat of the kitchen was too severe for three former finalists on the first day of the Australian Open. Out went Rainer Schuttler of Germany and Arnaud Clement of France, while Spain's Carlos Moya never got started.
There were no worries, though, for Andy Roddick, the world number one, who was coolness personified against the bludgeoning power of Fernando Gonzalez.
The Chilean hits just about every forehand as if he has a personal grievance against the ball, and there were occasions when Roddick, who knows about pulverising forehands himself, could only stand and stare.
He had lost to Gonzalez in Cincinnati two years ago, so had it in mind that every shot he hit was likely to come back with compound interest. Roddick mixed and matched, cut his errors to a minimum and duly stilled the raging bull, which was exactly the sort of beginning the reigning US Open champion had most wanted in his quest for a second successive grand slam title.
"I like to think I'm the hardest hitter out there most times, so facing Fernando is a little weird. As far as somebody lining up a shot and cracking it, you would have a hard time beating Andre (Agassi) for sheer pace. Fernando hits it hard but there is top-spin action on it," said Roddick, who won 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 and next plays Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic tomorrow.
Coping with Agassi's whip-crack forehands is a little way off yet, as the two Americans are potential semi-final opponents, but Roddick clearly has it on his mind, for it may prove to be the defining moment of the year in terms of overall dominance and the holding of tennis's highest peak. Roger Federer, the reigning Wimbledon champion, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, the French Open champion, are breathing down his neck.
"The number one spot is absolutely up for grabs. The three of us had such a tight race last year, and there are others who believe they have a shot at it," said Roddick. "I'll hang in there as long as I can."
There remain times when Roddick looks anything but the best player in the world - moments when his coach, Brad Gilbert, tends to gaze into the far beyond and shuffle uneasily in his seat. He is obviously encouraging the 21-year-old Roddick to attack the net more, but Roddick often appears ill at ease and tentative on his arrival there.
Agassi defeated Australia's Todd Larkham, a wild card, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 for his 22nd consecutive Australian Open match victory.
Moya, the number seven seed, failed to recover from the ankle injury picked up in the Sydney final against Lleyton Hewitt on Saturday and withdrew with some dignity without hitting a ball. This could not be said of two of Agassi's former final victims - Schuttler (2003) and Clement (2001) - who won their opening two sets only to lose in five.
Schuttler, the world number six, has yet to win a match this year and attempted to be philosophical after his 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Swedish teenager Robin Soderling. "It's just one or two points that I didn't make," he said.
Clement, who famously recovered from two sets down against his fellow Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean in the 2001 semi-finals, was this time on the receiving end of such a reversal, losing 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 against the Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Another Russian, Marat Safin - the almost forgotten man of world tennis - escaped the curse of the Australian Open beaten finalist with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Brian Vahaly of the US, and the former US Open champion, who was also world number one, will have been mighty pleased.
Safin finished last year outside the top 50, mainly because of a left wrist injury. The 23-year-old should have won here in 2002, blowing the final against Sweden's Thomas Johansson, and it is good to see him back.
Guardian Service
MelbourneFirst round scores
MEN'S SINGLES
C Guccione (Aus) bt A Jones (Aus) 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-2, J Golmard (Fra) bt APortas (Spa) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-1, R Ginepri (USA) bt L Horna (Per) 7-5 6-3 6-3, K Beck (Svk) bt S Koubek (Aut) 6-4 6-0 2-6 6-4, (27) T Dent (USA) bt F Verdasco (Spa) 6-2 6-1 2-1 ret, (13) P Srichaphan (Tha) bt J Acasuso (Arg) 7-5 6-4 6-0, J Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt I Labadze (Geo) 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3, I Ljubicic (Cro) bt D Tursunov (Rus) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 5-7 6-2, N Lapentti (Ecu) bt O Hernandez (Spa) 6-1 6-3 6-1, O Patience (Fra) bt I Andreev (Rus) 4-6 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-2, N Davydenko (Rus) bt (30) A Clement (Fra) 6-7 (6-8) 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-2, (16) S Schalken (Ned) bt K Carlsen (Den) 7-5 6-3 6-1, R Soderling (Swe) bt (6) R Schuettler (Ger) 4-6 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4, T Enqvist (Swe) bt (29) V Spadea (USA) 4-6 6-4 6-4 7-6 (8-6), (19) G Kuerten (Bra) bt J Van Lottum (Ned) 5-7 6-0 6-1 2-6 8-6, G Gaudio (Arg) bt (20) T Robredo (Spa) 6-3 6-2 7-6 (8-6), (9) S Grosjean (Fra) bt M Youzhny (Rus) 6-1 6-4 7-5, G Blanco (Spa) bt (18) Y El Aynaoui (Mor) 4-1 ret, J Melzer (Aut) bt T Behrend (Ger) 6-1 6-2 6-2, N Escude (Fra) bt H T Lee (Kor) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, J-M Gambill (USA) bt G Carraz (Fra) 6-2 6-3 ret, I Karlovic (Cro) bt (21) M Fish (USA) 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4), (1) A Roddick (USA) bt F Gonzalez (Chi) 6-2 7-5 7-6 (7-4), D Hrbaty (Svk) bt F Saretta (Bra) 6-3 6-3 6-3, T Martin (USA) bt A Dupuis (Fra) 4-6 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, J Blake (USA) bt I Miranda (Per) 6-1 6-4 6-4, T Berdych (Cze) bt N Mahut (Fra) 6-4 6-2 5-7 6-3, D Ferrer (Spa) bt G Muller (Lux) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-3, B Ulihrach (Cze) bt L Burgsmuller (Ger) 6-4 3-6 6-2 6-1, J Nieminen (Fin) bt (12) N Massu (Chi) 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3, M Safin (Rus) bt B Vahaly (USA) 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-4, (4) A Agassi (USA) bt T Larkham (Aus) 6-1 6-3 6-4.
WOMEN'S SINGLES
V Zvonareva (Rus) bt Z Ondraskova (Cze) 6-3 6-1, A Kapros (Hun) bt (10) N Petrova (Rus) 6-3 6-3, (10) S Kuznetsova (Rus) bt S Perry (USA) 6-3 6-3, J Jankovic (Ser) bt (7) E Dementieva (Rus) 6-1 6-4, M Czink (Hun) bt M Vento-Kabchi (Ven) 6-4 6-3, L Granville (USA) bt (31) T Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-1 6-3, S Stosur (Aus) bt S Talaja (Cro) 6-3 6-2, C Schaul (Lux) bt T Perebiynis (Ukr) 6-0 6-0, C Pin (Fra) bt T Garbin (Ita) 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4, P Mandula (Hun) bt G Leon Garcia (Spa) 6-4 4-6 6-4, J Craybas (USA) bt R Grande (Ita) 6-2 6-1, (21) E Bovina (Rus) bt S Kleinova (Cze) 4-6 6-1 7-5, A Molik (Aus) bt A Bachmann (Ger) 6-1 6-4, (24) M Maleeva (Bul) bt S Reeves (USA) 6-1 6-0, B Schett (Aut) bt C Fernandez (Arg) 4-6 6-3 6-4, (1) J Henin-Hardenne (Bel) bt O Lukaszewicz (Aus) 6-0 6-0, A Serra-Zanetti (Ita) bt F Pennetta (Ita) 7-5 6-4, M Diaz-Oliva (Arg) bt A Jidkova (Rus) 6-2 7-6 (7-5), (4) A Mauresmo (Fra) bt C-J Chaung (Tpe) 6-1 6-0, M Santangelo (Ita) bt (16) M Serna (Spa) 6-7 (3-7) 7-5 6-4, A Morigami (Jpn) bt M-E Pelletier (Can) 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4, Y Fedak (Ukr) bt (26) T Pisnik (Slo) 7-5 6-0, L Cervanova (Svk) bt C Dellacqua (Aus) 6-4 6-4, (5) L Davenport (USA) bt R Dragomir Ilie (Rom) 6-2 6-3, (19) E Daniilidou (Gre) bt J Hopkins (USA) 6-1 6-3, (32) F Zuluaga (Col) bt S Asagoe (Jpn) 6-3 6-2, (15) D Hantuchova (Svk) bt A Serra-Zanetti (Ita) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, A M Garrigues (Spa) bt A Cargill (USA) 6-3 6-4, ELoit (Fra) bt M Marrero (Spa) 7-5 6-4, C Black (Zim) bt E Callens (Bel) 2-6 6-3 6-3, N Pratt (Aus) bt (17) M Shaughnessy (USA) 6-4 5-7 6-4
