Roddick wins opener in Qatar

Doha, Qatar -- American Andy Roddick was a first-round winner Monday in the Qatar Open, cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Spain's Ivan Navarro.

Roddick is the No. 4 seed in the event, which is considered a tuneup for the Australian open, coming up in two weeks.

Fifth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils also had a decisive first-round win, beating Czech Jan Hernych, 6-2, 6-2.

Other opening-round winners included Romanian Victor Hanescu, Italy's Andreas Seppi, Nicolas Devilder of France, German Philipp Petzscner and Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The tournament's top-seed is Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer is seeded No. 2.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.