Doha, Qatar (My Sportsbook) - American star Andy Roddick opened his 2009 season on Monday with a first-round victory at the $1.11 million Qatar Open. The fourth-seeded former world No. 1 Roddick routed Spaniard Ivan Navarro 6-1, 6-3 on the hardcourts at Khalifa Tennis Complex. Roddick was joined in the second round by fifth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, who drubbed Czech Jan Hernych 6-2, 6-2. Romanian Victor Hanescu handled Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-2 on Day 1, while Italian Andreas Seppi subdued German Denis Gremelmayr 6-4, 6-2. Additional opening-round wins came for Frenchman Nicolas Devilder, Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky and German Philipp Petzschner. This week's top seeds are Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Rafael Nadal, U.S. Open titlist Roger Federer and U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray, who is the reigning Doha champ. Murray bested Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in last year's Qatar Open finale. Nadal will open his stay here against France's Fabrice Santoro on Tuesday, while Federer will face Italian Potito Starace and Murray will encounter Spaniard Albert Montanes. Federer captured this event back-to-back in 2005 and 2006. Santoro titled here back in 2000. This event serves as a tuneup for the Australian Open, which will commence in two weeks. |
