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Updated at 4:48 a.m., Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Tennis: Roddick defeats Ginepri in 3 sets in London

Associated Press

LONDON — Andy Roddick, showing no lingering effects of the shoulder injury that kept him out of the French Open, rallied to defeat Robby Ginepri 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-1 Wednesday to reach the third round of the Wimbledon warmup event at Queen's Club.

The third-seeded defending champion, bidding for a fifth Queen's title in six years, had not played since retiring with the injury at the Rome Masters semifinals on May 10.

"After the first set I thought it was actually really good," Roddick said. "It was a tale of kind of two matches. Almost the first set I was feeling like I was a little bit behind on everything, a little bit slow, just from not having played.

"The next two I actually picked it up and played probably better than I thought I could right now, considering."

Both American players easily held serve in the opening set, with Ginepri surrendering just four points on his serve and Roddick five to reach a tiebreaker. Ginepri then took the set on his third set point when Roddick netted a backhand volley.

Roddick argued with umpire Gerry Armstrong early in the second set before a forced backhand error gave him a break for 3-1.

Another break for 5-1 left Roddick serving to even the match at one set each. A run of 11 consecutive points in the third set put him ahead 4-0.

Lleyton Hewitt, who also is bidding for a fifth Queen's title, eased past Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-3, 6-2, and No. 5 Richard Gasquet advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Simone Bolelli of Italy.