Roddick survives and Nadal looks impressive

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) Champion Andy Roddick's bid for an unprecedented fourth successive Stella Artois title got off to a stuttering start today with a 2-6 6-4 6-3 win over Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic.

Three days after capturing a second French Open title, top seed Rafael Nadal made a seamless transition to grass and joined Roddick in the third round. He beat American wildcard Mardy Fish 7-6 6-1 on a blustery and overcast day at Queen's Club.

Briton Andy Murray was caught cold when he was beaten 7-6 3-6 6-2 by Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in a rain-interrupted first round match.

The Scot's exit left Tim Henman, a 6-2 6-4 winner over Paraguay's Ramon Delgado in the second round, as the sole British survivor.

Second seed Ivan Ljubicic began his grasscourt campaign with a stylish 7-6 6-2 win over Romania's Razvan Sabau.

Roddick, whose only defeats on grass over the last two years have been to Roger Federer at the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon finals, initially came unstuck against an opponent who normally competes on the lower Challenger circuit.

Dancevic could barely believe his luck when he broke the world number five for a second time to bag the first set in just 20 minutes with a backhand service return winner.

Roddick was not in the mood to relinquish his crown without a fight and came back strongly to seal the win after Dancevic dragged the ball long.

''The first set he played unbelievable,'' Roddick, seeded third, told reporters.

''I felt like I struggled a little bit early, I wasn't totally comfortable. As the match went on, I played better and better and better.

''You want to finish strong, especially if you start out ordinary.'' LONDON GAMBLE Nadal's gamble to compete in London rather than Halle this week paid off after he chalked up only his second win on grass in the last 12 months.

The Spaniard, a first-round loser in the German city last year, displayed a willingness to experiment on the fast surface by taking the net several times to win the first set tiebreak 7-1.

In the second, a demoralised Fish shook his head in frustration after Nadal completed his 25th consecutive match win with an unreturnable serve.

The 45th-ranked Murray had been poised to level his match when persistent showers halted proceedings yesterday.

On resumption, he held serve to win the second set but a refreshed Tipsarevic was quick to pounce in the decider.

The bearded Serbian, ranked 69 spots below his opponent, raced to a 3-0 lead and punished Murray with his more aggressive approach.

While a frustrated Murray repeatedly muttered, shrieked and beat the net with his racket, Tipsarevic kept his concentration to seal victory with a scorching forehand winner.

''I didn't deal with the conditions very well,'' Murray told reporters. ''He didn't make too many mistakes and I was the one who missed everything.'' With rain having wiped out all but six matches yesterday, organisers hope to fit in 20 singles matches on the third day of the event.

Former Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis and French 11th seed Sebastien Grosjean won their opening matches on Wednesday and will be back on court again later to face each other in the second round.

REUTERS SY ND2304