World number two men's tennis player Andy Roddick of the United States has beaten Australian Mark Philippoussis to reach the second round of the Stella Artois Championships grass court tournament in London.
Roddick, the second seed, ousted Philippoussis in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. Roddick faces the winner of the match between Karol Beck of Slovakia and Paul-Henri Matthieu of France.
Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia defeated Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic in straight sets (6-4, 6-4). He faces French player Richard Gasquet, who ousted Jamie Delgado of Britain (6-4, 6-1).
American James Blake defeated Victory Hanescu of Romania (6-2, 6-4). Blake takes on Sebastien Grosjean of France. Austrian Chris Guccione defeated 13th seeded Igor Andreev of Russia (6-4, 6-4). Guccione takes on Tim Henman of Britain in the next round.
Sixth-seeded Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated Luxembourg's Gilles Muller (6-7, 6-4, 7-5). Johansson faces the winner of a match between Andrew Murray of Britain and American Taylor Dent.
The grass-court event is a key warm-up for the Wimbledon championships, which start June 20 in London.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
