Roddick gets early 21st birthday present

Andy Roddick received a 21st birthday present a day early as he defeated Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 7-6 (10/8) in the second round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

The fourth seed was forced to save four set points in the fourth-set tie-breaker, the final one disputed by the Croatian who felt it was out.

And Ljubicic hit out at the American after his defeat. “If you played this match anywhere in the world but the United States, I would have won it,” he said.

“The umpire’s call and his acting on court, he doesn’t respect the others.”

But Roddick played down the controversy, and concentrated on his birthday. “I think I deserve a beer after that one,” he said.

Second seed Roger Federer had no problems as he raced into the third round with a 6-1 6-2 6-0 rout of France’s Jean-Rene Lisnard in just 78 minutes.

The Wimbledon champion won 85% of his first serves, hit 32 winners and broke serve seven times as Lisnard recorded only eight winners against 37 unforced errors.

“I made sure I had a lot of first serves, so I didn’t have to go for my second serve because that’s what he wanted,” the Swiss star said.

“I kind of like his game but I didn’t expect to beat him again so easy.”

Federer’s next match should not be as easy after American James Blake held off Armenia’s Sargis Sargsian 6-3 6-4 4-6 7-6 (8/6) to match his best US Open performance.

In other second-round matches, 12th seed Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands – a semi-finalist here last season – battled back from two sets down to beat Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller 4-6 2-6 6-2 6-2 6-0.

And 13th seed David Nalbandian of Argentina overcame Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 5-7 6-3 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7/3).

Also, unseeded Belgian Xavier Malisse upset 19th seed Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-2 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 3-6 6-3.

Wimbledon finalist and 1998 US Open runner-up Mark Philippoussis of Australia, the 20th seed, had no problem dispatching France’s Anthony Dupuis 6-2 6-3 6-4.