No. 4 Roddick, No. 5 Monfils open 2009 season with forceful victories in Doha

Fourth-seeded American Andy Roddick (pictured) and fifth-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils were among the first round winners on Monday at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, Qatar. Roddick, who finished last year in the Top 10 for the seventh consecutive season, easily defeated Spaniard Ivan Navarro, 6-1, 6-3, while Monfils cruised past Jan Hernych, 6-2, 6-2.

Currently ranked No. 8 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, Roddick smashed eight aces past Navarro, while winning 76 percent of first serve points and dropping only three points on his second serve. In the 61-minute match, Roddick broke serve four times, while Navarro was unsuccessful in his lone break point opportunity. In the second round, Roddick faces either wild card entrant Arnaud Clement or Diego Junqueira.

Currently ranked at a career-best No. 13, Monfils needed only 55 minutes to defeat Hernych in straight sets and start his 2009 season with a victory. Monfils fired nine aces, won 27 of 35 first serve points and was able to break serve on five of six opportunities. The former junior World No. 1 will clash with Nicolas Devilder in the second round.

Others winners on opening day in Doha included Victor Hanescu, Philipp Petzschner, Andreas Seppi and Sergiy Stakhovsky. Hanescu had little trouble with Serbian Viktor Troicki, winning, 6-4, 6-2, in 70 minutes. After surviving a close first set against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, Petzschner was able to close out the match in straight sets, winning, 7-6(2), 6-3. Seppi was able to break serve five times en route to an easy, 6-4, 6-2, victory over German Denis Gremelmayr, while Stakhovsky survived a three-set thriller against Belgian Christophe Rochus, winning, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).