Roddick opens Brisbane defence in style

BRISBANE, (AFP) - - Andy Roddick opened the defence of his Brisbane International title in style when he thrashed Australian wildcard Marinko Matosevic 6-3, 6-2 here on Monday.

The second-seeded American overcame some early resistance from Matosevic to cruise away with the match and set up a second round clash with Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov, who earlier accounted for Russia’s Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2.

Roddick had too much class for the 25-year-old Australian, who fought hard but couldn’t handle the power and consistency of the former world number one.

Matosevic but made too many errors to trouble Roddick, who was always able to rely on his booming serve for easy points whenever he was in trouble.