Roddick Wins and Will Meet an Old Friend

The laboratory was none other than a fast-food restaurant, and the pupil was his grandson. Jack Brasington Sr. wanted to teach 7-year-old Jack about tennis and grabbed the only tools at hand.

Napkins and fries.

“The fries were the players,” Jack III said, smiling. “It was great.”

One meal later, a tennis career was created--in a cradle of football. Jack Sr. and Jack Jr. played for the University of Miami, and the line of succession was stopped when young Jack went tree climbing at age 6, fell and broke a leg.

Thus non-contact sports were the only option and tennis still seems to fit that category.

Nearly every Grand Slam has a Brasington-type story but this one has been particularly compelling. He saved four match points in defeating Gouichi Motomura of Japan in the first round of U.S. Open qualifying. He won, 7-6, in the third set, riding the roller-coaster of a 30-point tiebreaker

It didn’t get any easier once he reached the first-round main draw Tuesday. Brasington, who turns 25 on Sept. 9, defeated 36-year-old Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6), in 3 hours 21 minutes. For Brasington, it was the first time he had played five sets and he needed intravenous treatment afterward.

The next challenge is considerably different: Andy Roddick. There is an age gap between Roddick and Brasington and a hype gap.

Roddick played in Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time and settled in quite nicely, defeating Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

Roddick, who lives in Boca Raton, Fla., will turn 19 on Thursday and he remembered Brasington from junior days. That is, his brother’s junior days. Roddick tagged along with his older brother John and made friends with Brasington and used to hit with him.

“He would just toy around with me,” Roddick said. “I haven’t seen him for quite some time. He was always really nice. I definitely admire him. He’s won four matches, so he’s going to be ready to go.”

Said Brasington: “It’s going to be a good test. I’m gonna go out there and play within myself. I think I’ve gotten used to all the hype. I’m past that.”

The hype and promise landed Roddick in the prime night slot on Arthur Ashe, and he put on a worthy show, hitting an ace of 135 mph on the second point of the match. His fastest of the match was 139 mph, tying Taylor Dent’s rocket Monday.

In one game, Roddick served four straight aces. And he even found time for dialog with a celebrity spectator, Clyde Drexler.

“I hit that jump overhead and I asked him if I should play basketball,” Roddick said. “He just laughed at me. He’s a really great guy. I just thought I’d joke around with him a little bit.”

The teenager in Roddick came through in the interview room when he tried to quell the story kick-started Monday by his buddy Bob Bryan, who linked Roddick to entertainer Jessica Simpson.

Roddick looked completely embarrassed.

“I’ll squash this right now,” he said. “I’ve never talked to her. I’ve never met her. I don’t know what else to say. You guys are laughing at me. It would be great to meet her. I don’t know, it’s been a serious distraction. I would love to squash it right now because there’s no dice, I don’t think.”

Roddick was not the only American who received substantial crowd support on the main show court. Four-time champion Pete Sampras, mired in a deep slump, turned into sentimental favorite, as he defeated Julien Boutter of France, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6), in the first round. He fought off a set point in the third set and survived 25 aces by Boutter.

“Everybody’s concerned about me,” Sampras said.

Is he?

“Not as much as everyone else,” he said.

Later, Sampras had one word to describe the newfound feeling from the spectators.

“Sympathy,” he said, laughing.

. Seventeen tournaments without a title will do that.

“Just haven’t won the last point,” Sampras said. “We tend to overanalyze a lot of things in this sport. I know what I can do out there. I’ve lost a couple of tough finals this year.”

There was one minor upset on the women’s side, and one in the men’s draw. Maja Matevzic of Slovenia defeated No. 16 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy, 6-2, 6-4, and Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina beat Sebastien Grosjean of France, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

This year, Grosjean reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open, but has been troubled by an injured ankle.

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At a Glance

Highlights of Tuesday’s play at the $15.76-million U.S. Open tennis championships:

Results: Men: No. 4 Lleyton Hewitt, No. 5 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 10 Pete Sampras and No. 13 Roger Federer advanced to the second round. Women: No. 4 Venus Williams, No. 5 Kim Clijsters, No. 8 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 9 Nathalie Tauziat, No. 11 Elena Dementieva and No. 15 Magdalena Maleeva won their first-round matches.

Featured matches: Men’s singles--Gustavo Kuerten (1), Brazil vs. Daniel Vacek, Czech Republic; Patrick Rafter (6), Australia vs. Christophe Rochus, Belgium; Arnaud Clement (12), France vs. Galo Blanco, Spain; Hugo Armando vs. Goran Ivanisevic (15), Croatia; John van Lottum, Netherlands vs. Tommy Haas (16), Germany; Davide Sanguinetti, Italy vs. Nicolas Lapentti (26), Ecuador; Justin Gimelstob vs. Michal Tabara, Czech Republic; Levar Harper-Griffith vs. Albert Costa, Spain. Women’s singles--Martina Hingis (1), Switzerland vs. Lina Krasnoroutskaya, Russia; Lindsay Davenport (3) vs. Emilie Loit, France; Patty Schnyder, Switzerland vs. Justine Henin (6), Belgium; Evgenia Koulikovskaya, Russia vs. Monica Seles (7); Serena Williams (10) vs. Denisa Chladkova, Czech Republic; Meghann Shaughnessy (12) vs. Asa Carlsson, Sweden; Lilia Osterloh vs. Jelena Dokic (14), Yugoslavia; Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (20), Spain vs. Ai Sugiyama, Japan.

Stat of the day: Sampras defeated Julien Boutter in straight sets despite scoring only three more points than the Frenchman (117-114). Boutter had more aces (25-18) and winners (67-39).

Quote of the day: “All this retirement talk has gotten a little bit carried away. You know, I’ve got many, many years left. I’m going to contend for every Grand Slam for the rest of my career.”--Sampras.