INDIANAPOLIS, United States (AFP) - Andy Roddick soothed his pain from a Wimbledon quarter-final embarrassment as he advanced into his comfort zone with a first-round victory Tuesday at the ATP Indianapolis Championships.
The US top seed said that defeating Alex Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-0 in his first match since Wimbledon was a tonic for squandering a two-sets-to-love lead to Frenchman Richard Gasquet on England grass just over a fortnight ago.
"It was one of the most disappointing losses of my career," Roddick said. "I was playing well and I thought I had a title shot but the best therapy for me is to get back out there on court.
"It's not that I never wanted to see a racket again, but I only hit once the week after Wimbledon. I had a lot of down time and it (the defeat) popped into my head a lot."
Roddick soothed his wounded pride with eight aces and four breaks of his 191st-ranked opponent's serve at Indy, where he owns titles from 2003 and 2004 plus a runner-up finish last year to James Blake.
He is hoping to regain confidence through a full summer schedule on hardcourts.
"This is may favorite time of the year. I've won most of these outdoor tournaments - some more than once," Roddick said.
"It's early for me to prepare, I love this part of the season. It bodes well for optimism."
US second seed James Blake came back after his Los Angeles finals loss on Sunday to start afresh with a 7-5, 7-6 (11/9) victory over Thomas Johansson.
Third-seeded prankster Dmitry Tursunov invoked the gangster style of television's Sopranos in beating Michael Russell 6-3, 7-5.
The Russian clown prince of the courts was quick to trot out his underworld analogies when asked how he finished off the first-round victory in 84 minutes.
"I didn't want to go three sets against him," he said. "I knew it was important to make my stand. I ended up holding his head in the toilet until he drowned - so to speak.
"I guess I've been watching the final episode of the 'Sopranos' a bit too much."
US fourth seed Mardy Fish faced struggles as he saved two match points late in the third set and won 20 of 21 points in the last five games of the second to post a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over countryman Vince Spadea.
Fish had lost 11 of his previous 13 matches dating to February prior to this week and is suffering with patella tendinitis in a knee.
"I came back twice and I wasn't feeling 100 percent with the knee," he said after recovering from 5-2 down in each of the final two sets.
"I managed to sneak through. I just told myself to go for it when I was down in the second. It was tough to push off on my serve - but I hadn't been getting many first serves in anyway."
Fish next plays Igor Kunitsyn, who beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-2, 1-6, 7-5.
Croatian Ivo Karlovic, seeded fifth, struggled to subdue Brazilian lucky loser Andre Sa, substituting for German Nicolas Kiefer, suffering with a knee injury.
Karlovic won 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3) while Korean sixth seed Lee Hyung-taik downed American teen Donald Young 6-2, 6-4.
