Roddick ousted; Sharapova tested

Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

Paul-Henri Mathieu's 14th ace finished off third-seeded Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-3 Tuesday night in the first round of the Rogers Cup at Montreal.

Roddick, a finalist the last three years and champion in 2003, was coming off a victory in Washington last weekend but was outserved and outhustled by the Frenchman, the last direct acceptance in the 64-man field with a world ranking of 63.

Roddick didn't blame the loss on fatigue from the Washington tournament.

"It just felt totally different out there than it did just two days ago," he said. "The court, the balls, they're all a little bit different. You know, I just didn't adjust."

Mathieu, whose win improved his record this season to 18-19, beat a top-10 opponent for the first this year.

"I thought he played great, let's get that out there right now," Roddick said. "He really took it to me so I was playing reactive instead of active."

Earlier, Rafael Nadal needed three sets to down fellow Spaniard, friend and former world No. 1 Carlos Moya.

Meanwhile, second-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt was forced to retire from his first-round match. Hewitt pulled out of his first-round match against French qualifier Florent Serra with a stomach ailment while trailing 4-3 in the first set.

Nadal beat Moya 6-3, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes on a sweltering day.

"The first match is never easy," said Nadal, the 19 year-old player who took the tennis world by storm by winning the French Open earlier this summer. "To play three sets with some important moments, that's important for the confidence."

Hewitt said he considered not starting his match, but decided to give it a shot about 20 minutes before it began.

"I haven't been able to eat anything the last three or four days, which just really hit me up because I've got no energy whatsoever right at the moment," Hewitt said.

Rankings mean little between friends, so No. 52 Maria Kirilenko wasn't ready to play her role as stepping stone for Sharapova, who is trying to take over the world's top spot this week.

Kirilenko survived six set points to give Sharapova a scare, but the Russian survived a grueling 1 hour, 50 minutes for a 7-6 (7), 6-2 second-round victory at Home Depot Center.

"I've known her for such a long time, and we're good buddies, so it's not easy, especially in the (first match of the tournament)," said Sharapova, who was fighting a cold. "But I'm sure we'll have many more matches in the future."

Sharapova needs to reach the semifinals to claim the No. 1 ranking.