ANDY RODDICK BEATS JARKKO NIEMINEN AT FRENCH OPEN

By NBF News

French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Date: 23 May-6 June
Coverage: Live video streamed from 1000 BST on BBC Sport website (UK only) and BBC red button; commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra; also live on Eurosport; text commentary on BBC Sport website Details of BBC coverage

Highlights – Roddick battles past Nieminen (UK users only)

Sixth seed Andy Roddick booked his place in the French Open second round with a gruelling 6-2 4-6 4-6 7-6 6-3 win over Finn Jarkko Nieminen.

American Roddick, who has not played an ATP match on clay this season, took the first set before the world number 69 bounced back to take the next two.

But Roddick broke in the fifth and final game of the final set to take victory in three hours and 19 minutes.

Seventh seed Fernando Verdasco beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-2 6-2.

But there was no luck for 26th seed Juan Monaco who fell 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-5 6-3 to Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja.

Slovenia had never celebrated a win in Grand Slam men's singles before Tuesday, but Zemlja was joined in the second round by Blaz Kavcic, who went through after Eduardo Schwank had to retire with an injury.

Kavcic's reward is a second-round meeting with Roddick, who needed three hours and 19 minutes to see off 28-year-old Nieminen in his first match since winning the Miami Masters title in March.

“I've been pretty good at sticking around. The majority of the matches I win aren't pretty,” said the American. “But I've made a career out of that.”

Verdasco, meanwhile, avoided any controversy in his comfortable win over Kunitsyn.

The Spaniard was booed by the crowd during Saturday's final against Richard Gasquet in Nice, and responded by shouting obscenities at them and waving sarcastically on his way to a three-set defeat.

“It was no problem for me today,” said Verdasco, who has issued a statement apologising for his behaviour in Nice.

“Of course, you expect the worst all the time. If it's the worst you're not going to be disappointed, not too surprised.”

Meanwhile, 18th seed Sam Querrey did not hide his disappointment following a surprise 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-2 defeat to fellow American Robby Ginepri.

“When I lost that second set tiebreaker and got broken in the first game, I was done,” the 22-year-old said.

“I wanted to be off the court. I started thinking about leaving and pulling out of the doubles and how much I wanted to go home, how much I wasn't enjoying it.

“You're never gonna win a match if you're just being negative. I'm only hurting myself.”

However, there was no such heartache for 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero who eased past Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4 6-3 6-1, while fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, the ninth seed, recorded a 6-1 6-3 6-1 win over Frenchman David Guez.

Elsewhere, number 22 seed Jurgen Melzer beat Dudi Sela 7-5 6-2 6-4, 28th seed Lleyton Hewitt beat Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-5 6-0 6-4, while number 30 Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Karol Beck 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 6-1.