Washington - Andy Roddick made a winning return to tennis with a defeat Wednesday of German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2, putting his Wimbledon loss to Roger Federer behind him with a move into the third round of the Legg Mason Classic. The top seed and world number five lost a third Wimbledon final to Federer a month ago.
Roddick holds Washington title honours from 2001, 2005 and 2007 and lifted his record at the pre-US Open event to 26 wins, four losses. He sent over eight aces and broke three times for a tidy victory in 55 minutes.
The US player now stands just a match away from becoming the fourth active player - alongside Federer, Carlos Moya and Lleyton Hewitt - to notch 500 career ATP match victories.
Roddick was joined in the third round at Rock Creek Park by fast- rising compatriot Sam Querrey, as the 16th-seed winner of the Los Angeles title at the weekend began his Washington campaign over Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-4.
2004 winner Lleyton Hewitt, nearly a year removed from the hip surgery that saved his career, won his second straight match at the venue, defeating Israel's 15th seed Dudi Sela 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
The Australian is keen to lift in time for the US Open, which he won in 2001.
"I'm really trying to excel in the second half of the season," said the two-time Grand Slam champion. "I want to be in a good position this summer going into the Open."
The 42nd-ranked Wimbledon quarter-finalist against Roddick said it required an adjustment from the grass onto a hard court.
"It always takes a couple of matches to get into rhythm," Hewitt said.
"This is a quality field, and it would be tough to win. But I have the chance to go into the Masters events at Montreal and Cincinnati (Ohio) in good form with a decent showing here."
Elsewhere in the second round, Chilean fourth seed Fernando Gonzalez started with a defeat of Colombian Alejandro Falla 7-5, 7-5, while last week's Croatian finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero upset fellow seventh-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2.
German Philipp Petzschner mounted a comeback to dispatch ninth- seeded Mardy Fish 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 after the American had complained last week of abdominal muscle pain last week in Los Angeles.
Croatian Ivo Karlovic struck 18 aces to defeat German veteran Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 7-5, while Frenchman Marc Gicquel advanced after just three games and 16 minutes when Serb Viktor Troicki retired injured trailing 3-0.
