Roddick Roars into Third Round

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Third seed Andy Roddick wasted no time in moving through to the third round of the Stella Artois Championships with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over South African qualifier Rik De Voest.

Roddick, the No. 3 seed, took just 51 minutes to get his grass court campaign off to a winning start, firing down 11 aces in the process.

"I didn't know too much about De Voest but he's won four matches having come through qualifying, so you have to be weary of him," said Roddick. "I was happy with the way the second set went and I started to feel a lot better. Whenever you change surfaces it's difficult. Grass is a foreign surface so it's nice to get the win."

The 20-year-old American, who lost in the first round to Mikhail Youzhny in his only previous appearance at The Queen's Club in 2001, is playing in his first tournament with new coach Brad Gilbert.

"It's new and I think we're both pretty excited about working together," said Roddick, who will now meet either Greg Rusedski or Hicham Arazi in the third round. "It's good to have a different opinion when you've had one for so long, so maybe it's time for a new voice. He's been around for a long time as a player and a coach and he's got a lot to talk about.

"I haven't read his book yet. I've got the author, so I don't need the book."

In first round action, No. 12 seed Max Mirnyi, who became the No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Entry Ranking on Monday, emphasized his threat on the singles court with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Swiss qualifier George Bastl. The "Beast" from Belarus, a singles winner in Rotterdam earlier this year, will now face Frenchman Cyril Saulnier for a place in the third round.

Taylor Dent, the No. 11 seed who won the grass court title in Newport last year, also sent down 11 aces en route to a 6-2, 7-5 victory over fellow American Robert Kendrick and will now meet Cecil Mamiit.

Meanwhile, Brazilian Andre Sa ended his barren spell of 15 consecutive losses in 2003 with a 6-2, 7-6(1) win against Belgian qualifier Gilles Elseneer. Sa, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, had lost his last 16 matches on the ATP circuit dating back to October 2002.

Elswhere on day two, Mario Ancic caused the first upset of the tournament when he defeated fourth seed Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets. Ancic, who defeated Roger Federer in the first round at Wimbledon last year, will now meet either Alex Bogdanovic or Anthony Dupuis in the third round.

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