Andy Roddick finally won his first match of the summer, advancing to the second round of the ATP Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Local boy John Isner, seeded fourth, also won his opening match in the last event before the start of the US Open which begins on Monday.
The Wimbledon marathon man defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in a 17-ace performance.
Top seed Roddick, who missed more than a month after an early Wimbledon exit with an abdominal muscle pull, finally got a win after losing in his only other start in the Cincinnati first round last week to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The American, short of match play and trying to rescue a desperate year in which he fell from the top 10, managed 11 aces and never faced a break point against his 107th-ranked French opponent.
“It’s tough coming off an injury, you tend to over-play and over-compensate,” said the former number one and 2003 US Open champion. “I’ve been trying to get my legs back during training this week.
“I served well and tried not to give anything away. I think I did that OK tonight. You have to learn to crawl before you walk.
“I tried to pin him to the baseline. If he wanted to make any winner he would have to make them from the back of the court. I was pretty pleased with the match.”
Third-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine beat Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-4. American Ryan Harrison, twice a hardcourt semi-finalist this summer, was defeated by world number 323 Pierre-Ludovic Duclos, of Canada, 7-5, 7-5 after taking the place of sixth seed Kevin Anderson, out with food poisoning.
Fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko was far from pleased with his form even after beating American qualifier Michael Russell 6-2, 6-2.
The 30-year-old, who has slid to 39 in the world from a high of third, claimed his 21st career title last May in Munich but had not managed to make it into the third round of a tournament since.
Davydenko was far from pleased with his 74-minute win over Russell.
“It was pretty tough,” said the Russian, who committed four double-faults and failed to serve an ace. “We are preparing for the US Open and it’s a nervous time.
“I’m still trying to feel the court and the ball. It was also a bit windy today.
“I need confidence, I was just fighting for every point. I ran and my legs felt good but I was only pushing the ball. I had too many mistakes.”
Dutch tenth seed Robin Haase, winner on clay this month in Kitzbuehel, opened his hardcourt campaign at the last possible moment but produced an easy 6-4, 6-1 over veteran American James Blake.
Belgian Steve Darcis mounted a second-round comeback to turn the tables on 11th seed Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 while Argentine seventh seed Juan Monaco beat Germany’s Tobias Kamke.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori upset Spanish second seed Pablo Andujar 7-6 (7/3), 6-2. Finn Jarkko Nieminen, 13th, beat Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Tournament director Bill Oakes says no matches were halted due Tuesday’s earthquake that shook parts of the USA eastern seaboard, adding “no one really seemed to notice it.”
