Roddick advances at Memphis tennis

Memphis (Tennessee), Feb 16 (AFP) American top seed AndyRoddick advanced to the second round of the USD 1.32 millionATP-WTA Memphis tournament with a three-set victory overRichard Berankis on Tuesday.

Roddick had to rally from behind after dropping theopening set to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 over the unseeded Lithuanianin the 91-minute match on the indoor hardcourts.

Roddick''s American teammate Mardy Fish also won hisopening match by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-1, 7-5.

Fish missed last week''s event in San Jose, California,due to a thyroid condition.

"I felt a lot better today than I did Friday," Fish said.

"So that''s a good sign. Obviously, the goal is to try to getto 100 percent. To be honest, I''ve felt better each day."

Fish is trying to recapture some of the magic he had lastyear when he won two tournaments and reached a career highranking of 16 in the world.

Czech Radek Stepanek and Croatian Ivan Dodig alsoadvanced with victories over a pair of Germans.

Dodig rallied to beat Rainer Schuettler 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 andStepanek cruised past Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-2. Dodig is freshof his first ATP Tour title achieved a couple of weeks ago inCroatia.

In second-round matches on the women''s side, seventhseeded Renata Voracova was ousted by Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-1.

Magdalena Rybarikova beat Anne Keothavong, a Memphissemi-finalist the previous two years. (AFP) AT