Roddick loses temper,match

ANDY Murray cruised through his first match at the US Open while an angry Andy Roddick crashed out on Wednesday,fuming over a foot-fault call. The fourth-seeded Murray had a 6-3,6-2,6-2 win over Slovakias Lukas Lacko but other big-name players made early exits.

Roddick,the 2003 champion,went out in the second round with a 3-6,7-5,6-3,7-6 4 loss to 44th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic. He played very high-risk and executed for four sets, said the ninth-seeded Roddick,whose exit left Roger Federer as the only past mens champion in the field. I kept telling myself,You know,this has to have an expiration date on it. Unfortunately,I needed another set for that.

In the womens section,former champions Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams and French Open finalists Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur all progressed,but the talking point of the draw was the dramatic collapse of 10th seeded Victoria Azarenka.

Trailing Gisela Dulko 5-1 in the first set,Azarenka stopped suddenly chasing a ball on the baseline and crumpled. She was treated for heat exhaustion covered by a towel,sheltered by an umbrella,rolled off in a wheelchair,ice pack on her neck. Several hours later,she revealed she had hit her head during pre-match warmups. She was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a mild concussion.

Roddicks elimination was dramatic. Trailing 5-2 in the third set,Roddick wound up in an argument over a foot-fault call on a first serve. He turned to the official and asked,What foot? When she told him it was his right foot,he replied,Thats impossible. Roddick then turned to chair umpire Enric Molina and,pointing first to his right foot,then his left,asked,Has THIS foot gone in front of THAT foot ever in my career? Molina replied: Not in my matches.

A replay showed Roddick did commit a foot fault but with his left toes. Asked later what might have happened if the lineswoman said the call was made because his left foot was on the baseline,he replied: There would have been no discussion. He missed his second serve for a double-fault,then continued to harangue the official,at one point making a reference to 1-800-Rent-a-Ref.

Zvonareva in Round 3

Meanwhile,Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva beat 94th-ranked Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-1,7-6 5 in the second round. The No. 7-seeded Zvonareva now has made it to the third round at the US Open in seven of her eight trips to the tournamentbut failed to reach the quarterfinals.

Top-seed Caroline Wozniacki proved she deserved top seeding with her 6-0,6-0 triumph in the second round against Kai Chen-Chang of Taipei. But 18th-seeded Aravane Rezai of France was upset by US Beatrice Capra in three sets 7-5,2-6,6-3. Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also won,defeating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 7-6 2,6-4.

Among the Indians in the fray,Rohan Bopanna,partnering Zi Yan of China,lost to the US-French pair of Rajeev Ram and Aravane Rezai 6-2,6-4 in the opening round of mixed doubles.