Razor sharp Roddick in control

Wimbledon third seed Andy Roddick was hardly troubled as he cruised to an easy

6-2 victory in the opening set of his fourth round clash with Paul-Henri

Mathieu.

At times Mathieu was bludgeoned out of contention by Roddick's blistering serve

but he was also his own worst enemy, making a host of mistakes that gift-wrapped

his opponent the set.

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A sublime low cross-court backhand from Mathieu had Roddick in trouble early in

the fourth but the American composed himself with a 140mph serve helping him to

safety.

Then it was Mathieu's turn to come under pressure with three unforced errors

resulting in two break points, the second of which the 25-year-old hit long to

give Roddick the crucial breakthrough.

Roddick maintained his stranglehold in the opening set, aided by Mathieu's

growing error count, and broke once again in sixth without breaking sweat.

Mathieu put up more of a fight in the eighth but the power of Roddick's service

told once again, with the set-winning point deflecting of the bemused

Frenchman's racket.

Both players were content to exchange shots from the baseline and with Mathieu

finding his range following an erratic opening, the second set was finely

balanced.

Roddick secured two break points in the sixth but Mathieu saved both, expertly

outmanoeuvring the Queen's champion for the first and gratefully accepting an

unforced error for the second.

Thunder could be heard throughout the game as the skies darkened and moments

later the covers came on.

When play resumed more than an hour later, Roddick fired his 10th ace to take

the eighth game in routine fashion.

Mathieu had clearly recovered from the jitters which afflicted him in the first

set and was looking far more like the player who knocked out seeds David Ferrer

and Ivan Ljubicic during his passage to the fourth round.

But Roddick seized a break point in the 11th, unsettling Mathieu by

unexpectedly charging to the net and winning a crucial rally.

The Frenchman hit the following point long, allowing Roddick to serve for the

set at 6-5 up before the covers came on once again.