Andy Roddick needed just 55 minutes to swat away Kristof Vliegen at Queen's Club on Tuesday and remind everyone what a class act he is on grass. The American, four-time champion at Queen's, seamlessly make the adjustment from clay and swept past his Belgian opponent 6-1, 6-4 in the second round. “Coming from clay to grass is one of the happiest days of my year,” Roddick told reporters. “I don't have to make a lot of adjustments to my game to play on this surface.” He will next face either Australian Lleyton Hewitt, another four-time winner at Queen's and Wimbledon champion in 2002, or unseeded Portuguese Frederico Gil. Roddick has never won Wimbledon, with two defeats in the final against Roger Federer the closest he has come. Fellow Americans James Blake and Mardy Fish followed Roddick into the last 16. Sixth seed Blake saw off the Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-2, 7-6 and eighth seed Fish beat Michael Llodra of France 5-7, 7-6, 6-3. On a good day for the US, Sam Querrey overcame South African Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-3 to join his compatriots. Sebastien Grosjean's comeback from a shoulder injury was cut short when he was forced to retire trailing 6-2, 2-1 to Juan Carlos Ferrero in a first-round match. Fourth seed Monfils ensured it was not all bad news for France, making light of a wrist problem to beat Kazakh Andrey Golubev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 after a rain delay. Big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic buried Teimuraz Gabashvili under a barrage of aces in his 6-3, 7-6 (13-11) first round win. Next in the line of fire against Karlovic is France's Julien Benneteau, who defeated Daniel Koellerer 6-3, 6-4. Spain's Alberto Martin marked his Queen's debut with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 first round victory over Ernests Gulbis, the Latvian 13th seed. Martin, 30, will play Belgium's Steve Darcis, who beat Paul Capdeville 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Federer pulls out World number two Roger Federer admitted on Tuesday exhaustion has forced him out of Halle's ATP tournament as new top seed Novak Djokovic cruised through to the second round. “I sincerely apologize to the tournament organizers, my competitors, and my fans in Germany,” Federer said in a statement on his website. With Federer out, Djokovic enjoyed a straight sets win 7-5, 6-2 over Italy's Simone Bolelli earlier in the day. Earlier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed just over an hour to reach the second round when he beat compatriot Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-2 in another easy win. Tsonga faces a harder second round match against former world number two Tommy Haas after the German took Federer to five sets in the fourth round at Roland Garros last week. Fernando Verdasco made a first-round exit when he was beaten by Germany's Philipp Petzschner 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Seventh-seed Jurgen Melzer from Austria will play Germany's Nicholas Kiefer in the second round after they both won their first-round matches. Local favourite Mischa Zverev also booked his passage into the second round with a straight sets victory over Australia's Joseph Sirianni when he served out a 6-2, 6-4 victory. Zverev will now play 2007 Halle champion Tomas Berdych in the next round, while Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber beat compatriot Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-2 and will play sixth-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the second-round. Sania beats Poutchek Sania Mirza began her grass court campaign with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Tatiana Poutchek at the Aegon Classic on Tuesday, shrugging off a persistent wrist injury that had threatened to end her career. Sania has slipped well down in the rankings – she is now ranked No. 98 – but she said she was delighted just to be back playing on one of her favorite surfaces. Sania next plays Anne Keothavong, the eleventh-seeded British number one who overwhelmed Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, 6-2, 6
