Roddick wins first-round match
Number three seed Andy Roddick beat fellow American Justin Gimelstob 6-1 7-5 7-6 (7-3) in their rain-delayed first-round clash on Court One at Wimbledon.
Roddick - beaten at the All England Club last year by Britain's Andy Murray - settled quickly following a near two-hour hold-up and raced through the opening set 6-1 in just 25 minutes.
Gimelstob, 30, had missed the end of last season and the opening few months of 2007 after recovering from major back surgery, but rallied in the second set.
However, big-serving Roddick - who won the Artois Championships at Queen's Club - eventually came through 7-5.
The third set went with serve until an epic ninth game, which saw Gimelstob save seven break points.
Roddick, though, eventually closed out the match on the tie-break, 7-3, to complete a straight-sets victory in just over two hours.
The Wimbledon crowd had been given an early chance to witness the new rule change this year when Gimelstob challenged a call on the first service game of the second set.
Hawk-Eye, though, confirmed the line judge was correct, his serve landing just out down the left side.
Both men held serve, and Gimelstob led 5-4 - after the veteran American had shared a joke with the crowd, declaring "you want more effort than that?" in response to a fan following an athletic, diving forehand.
However, a double fault in game 11 handed Roddick a break-point chance, which he converted when Gimelstob sent a return long.
The world number three promptly held his next serve to love and took control of the match to lead 2-0.
To his credit, Gimelstob - who has a protected ranking here of 73 because of his recent injury problems - again refused to lie down in the third set.
The ninth game became an epic of 10 deuces.
A combination of athletic volleys by Gimelstob and also Roddick's inability to kill off the rally saw the number three seed miss the chance to take a decisive advantage as the storm clouds gathered ominously.
Roddick, though, soon levelled the set up at 5-5, in a game which included another booming 134mph serve which inadvertently struck a line judge.
The tie-break then went with serve, 4-3 to Roddick.
Gimelstob won a challenge on his first service, only to then net before Roddick finally secured a mini-break and went on to force three match points.
The world number three claimed the first when Gimelstob sent a return long to secure a straight-sets victory, but one which Roddick had to work hard for.
