Tennis-Roddick takes comfort on grass

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LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Three times former champion Andy Roddick put the dark days of clay behind him on Tuesday to record a confident and comfortable 6-4 6-4 second-round victory over Radek Stepanek on the grass at Queen's.

The American second seed, ignominiously defeated in the first round of the French Open two weeks ago, delighted in the speed of the slick surface, hammering down unreturnable serves at speeds of up to 148 miles an hour (239 kph).

Stepanek, no slouch himself on grass having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year, tried to serve and volley but often found himself stranded at the net by some fine Roddick passes.

The Czech dropped serve in the seventh game of the first set and the ninth of the second.

Roddick's match-winning game summed up the encounter. He won it to love with an ace, two serves that ricocheted uncontrollably off Stepanek's racket and a volley that the Czech could barely reach.

"This could be my favourite event," Roddick, 24, said. "It's easy to come back to a place where you have happy memories."

Roddick, a former U.S. Open champion now ranked fifth in the world, won the traditional Wimbledon warm-up tournament from 2003 to 2005. He was runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2004 and 2005.

Top seed Rafael Nadal, who like Roddick had a bye to the second round, begins his grasscourt campaign on Wednesday allowing him an extra day to rest following his French Open victory over Federer on Sunday.

Keywords: TENNIS MEN/QUEENS