Roddick roars past Santoro

NEW YORK — Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick roared past grand slam veteran Fabrice Santoro of France 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to complete the men’s first round of the US Open.

Second seed Jelena Jankovic and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to work much harder than expected to shake off their opponents in the second round.

Serb Jankovic squandered a match point in the second set before scraping past Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 and Russian Kuznetsova overcame a slow start to beat Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea 7-6, 6-1.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, however, had no complaints about not playing to her potential after completing a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Pauline Parmentier of France.

Roddick, the 2003 Open champion, lost just two points on his booming service as he raced through the opening set in 25 minutes and never looked back in booking a second-round match against up-and-coming teenager Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

The 35-year-old Santoro, who extended his men’s record by playing in his 65th grand slam, had beaten Roddick in their last meeting on the indoor carpet in Lyon in 2007.

The eighth-seeded Roddick blasted 41 winners past the overmatched Frenchman, including 15 aces. The American lost just four points on his first serve the entire match.

"I felt good. That’s the best I’ve felt in four, five months," Roddick, 25, said in a courtside interview.

"Something about this place always gets me energized."

Santoro, by contrast, was thoroughly demoralized and on the last point of the 87-minute match stood passively and never lifted his racket as Roddick signed off with an ace.

The Frenchman had to duck away from a Roddick rocket serve on the previous point that whizzed straight at him at 140 miles an hour (225 kph).

"I was really disappointed the way he had served the point before. He served right at me for sure," Santoro said, before cooling off and applauding Roddick’s overall performance.

"He’s a good guy," Santoro said. "I like him."

Roddick, 25, said he was aiming up the middle and missed.

"I wasn’t going for him up 6-2, 6-2, 5-2," he said. "It was a bad miss. I was really excited about the way I was playing. To end it that way was a little disappointing."

That was the only sour note in the match for eighth-seeded Roddick, who played free and easy, slugging groundstroke winners off both wings and slashing volley winners with ease.

Roddick said he was feeling fit and did not regret passing up the Beijing Olympics to prepare for the Open.

Next up for Roddick is 40th-ranked Gulbis, 19, who earlier beat Thomas Johansson 7-5, 6-1, 7-6.

Jankovic, who reached the last four of the US Open in 2006, needed two hours and 45 minutes to subdue the 63rd-ranked Arvidsson on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The 23-year-old Serb twice served for the match in the second set and also led 3-0 in the tiebreak before the Swede pegged her back with a series of stinging groundstrokes.

Jankovic, who briefly claimed top spot in the rankings earlier this month, had to hold off an Arvidsson comeback in the decider before booking her place in the third round.

"It was a really tough one and I am completely out of breath," said a relieved Jankovic who will next face Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie. "I struggled out there and my opponent played really, really well and pushed me to the limit.

"I am not yet at my full potential. I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be."

Kuznetsova, who clinched the 2004 title in an all-Russian final with Dementieva, trailed world No. 53 Cirstea 4-2 in the opening set before raising the level of her own game.

Eighth seed Vera Zvonareva became the latest casualty at Flushing Meadows, losing 3-6, 3-6 to Tatiana Perebiynis of Ukraine, while 1998 champion Lindsay Davenport needed to rely on her greater wealth of experience to steer past Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3.

Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic, beaten in last year’s final by Roger Federer, survived an injury scare before beating Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the men’s event.

The Australian Open champion appeared to turn his left ankle midway through the third set but recovered to wrap up victory in just under two hours.