Roddick cruises over Fish

Federer 'in the groove' after caning Cañas

FROM THE ITALIAN OPEN IN ROME – It doesn't happen too often that Andy Roddick drops only five games in a dominant performance on clay. But, then again, he doesn't have to face a fellow American on dirt that frequently either. In his first clay-court match of the season, Roddick routed Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-4 in the second round of the Italian Open.

"I feel pretty good," Roddick said. "I've been training at home, but it's never really the same as an actual tournament atmosphere, especially coming from American clay courts and coming over here. It's a little bit different. So it's good to be able to get through the first [round], so at least you're getting some matches in."

Roddick raced out to a 5-0 lead in just 15 minutes, as he was defensively solid from the backcourt while Fish was putting his attacking ground strokes anywhere but between the lines.

However, Fish built up some momentum in the first couple of games in the second set. Leading 2-1, the Indian Wells finalist connected on three aggressive forehands to create a break point, but then shanked one to blow the opportunity. A horrendous service game at 30-all – featuring a double fault, two forehand misses and a netted backhand – cost Fish the set and the match. After winning their first clash, Fish has now lost eight straight matches against Roddick.

"I played pretty solid," Roddick stated. "Mardy is an attacking player, and if he was going to attack, [I wanted to] make him do it from deep in the court, and I was able to do that.

After Sam Querrey's surprising run to the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo - which included wins over respected clay-courters Carlos Moya and Richard Gasquet - Roddick could equal that run in Rome this week, if he wins his next match.

"I think we're all surprised that [Querrey] did that well," Roddick said. "He has some bigger swings than I do. He has pretty loose strokes and big windups. Outside of serving the ball hard, I don't really think we're that similar as far as the way we play."

Roddick may never adapt well to the clay unless he finds some more pop on his ground strokes and gets his topspin to bite. Plus, he doesn't move that well side-to-side. Major clay-court success would require a near-complete makeover of his technique with longer backswings, and it's too late for that to happen. Besides, Andy does not take clay seriously enough to start altering his shots.

"I enjoy the challenge of clay," Roddick said. "It's obviously probably my toughest surface, so that makes the wins that I do get that much more satisfying. What do I dislike? Obviously it's slower. It takes away a lot of my weapons which isn't fun."

CAÑAS CAN'T TROUBLE FEDERER AGAIN

Little over a year ago, Guillermo Cañas registered two consecutive upset wins over Roger Federer at Indian Wells and Miami. Federer then humbled the Argentine indoors in Madrid in the fall 6-0, 6-3 and today tied their head-to-head series at 3-all after defeating the former No. 8 on his favorite surface 6-3, 6-3.

"The draw was tough," Federer said. "We've had some tough ones in the past so I knew it was going to go difficult."

Federer was the dominant player throughout the encounter. The No. 1 nearly lost his service game at 2-3 in the second set on Cañas' only break point of the match, but a low backhand volley from the Swiss, which clipped the net cord, fell over for a winner.

Federer claimed the decisive break in the following game, when Cañas overhit a forehand in an enthralling rally, in which both players exchanged lobs.

"I played well," Federer added. "I felt like I was in the groove right away again from [Monte-Carlo]. I think the week off did me well, but I practiced hard as well. So things are good and I'm very happy with the result."

Federer was hitting more than a few drop shots against Cañas, a shot he used sparingly before this season. He executed perfectly, as Cañas didn't even make a run for them on most occasions. Federer is expanding his tactics under new coach Jose Higueras.

"My Davis Cup captain, Severin [Luthi], watched the match yesterday and he saw that it worked very well against him because he stands really far back," Federer explained. "We all know that. That's no secret he plays far from behind the court. I tried one [drop shot] and it worked and I tried two, so I said, 'Okay, I'll do a few more,' and it worked even better. It's something you go with the momentum. Not every player gives you the opportunity to do it, but he definitely did. I think it was the right plan, because I won all the points except one."

In some other notable results, Gilles Simon stopped Jo Tsonga 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(6); Fernando Verdasco took out Carlo Moya 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Gonzalez outlasted Janko Tipsarevic 3-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(6) and Ivo Karlovic beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(4), 6-2.