Associated Press

Rome, May 4:

Top-seeded Andy Roddick improved to 7-0 on clay this season with a 6-4, 7-5 win over 2002 French Open winner Albert Costa in the second round of the $2.7 million Rome Masters.

There were only two breaks of serve in the match and Roddick had both, each closing out each set. Costa made four errors in the final game to set up Roddick’s second break. In the third game of the match, Roddick unleashed a 240 kph ace.

Costa has not won a title since his Paris crown and has dropped to 50 in the world rankings. Also, last year’s French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria beat Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer 6-1, 6-1. Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty beat Julien Benneteau of France 7-6, 6-0.

German Open

BERLIN: Justine Henin-Hardenne battled to her 12th straight win with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory over the Czech Republic’s Iveta Benesova at the German Open.

The Belgian reached the second round in pursuit of her third straight title at the $1.3 million event. Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the fourth seed, coasted into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Magdalena Maleeva. Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez ousted Gisela Dulko of Argentina, 6-1, 6-3.