Roddick 'not too worried' after defeat

(AP)

American Andy Roddick expects to be a contender for the US Open, despite suffering a blow to his preparations at the Cincinnati Masters earlier this week.

The world No 5, runner-up at Wimbledon last month, crashed to a 7-6, 7-6, upset defeat by countryman Sam Querrey in the second round. "To be honest I played well and I feel prepared for the Open," Roddick said. "That's what you want to get out of this stretch. I'm disappointed that I couldn't play better here in Cincinnati, which is a place that I enjoy playing. But as far as the Open goes, I'm not too worried about the setback."

Former US Open champion Roddick held set points in the first set and was a break up in the second but could not push home the advantage.

Despite the loss, Roddick, who turns 27 on 30 August, the day before the US Open begins, made the semi-finals in last week's Montreal Masters and had been a favourite in Cincinnati.

He said he was likely to return to his home in Austin, Texas, for a while before travelling to New York.

"Eleven days at the place before the slam even starts is a little excessive," Roddick said. "I might actually go home for a couple days and then cruise up there before the week starts."

World No 26 Querrey, who clinched his second ATP title at the LA Open earlier this month, will play Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the third round. "That first set was huge for me," said Querrey. "I lost a tie-break against him in Washington a few weeks ago and then lost the second 6-4 so that was key tonight."

Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal had all advanced to the third round earlier on Wednesday and were due to play again last night against David Ferrer, Radek Stepanek and Paul-Henri Mathieu respectively. Roddick was not the only big-name disappointment, though, with seventh-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga despatched 7-6, 6-2 by Australian qualifier Chris Guccione.