Roddick snaps first-round losing run

By Pritha Sarkar

PARIS (Reuters) - Andy Roddick overcame a psychological block on Monday when he clambered into the French Open second round with a 6-2 6-4 6-2 win over French wildcard Romain Jouan.

The American sixth seed had not made it past the first round since 2005 and with only one win on red dirt this season, few would have been surprised if Roddick had already booked his flight out of Paris.

But he made sure he would have a chance of prolonging his stay at Roland Garros, where his highlight has been one third-round showing in seven visits, by eclipsing the 305th-ranked Jouan.

"I'm just glad I finally won a match out there," Roddick, who won the last of his five claycourt titles in 2005, told a news conference.

The 26-year-old's biggest weapon has always been his thunderbolt serve but the American is first to admit that on clay it fails to do much damage.

Under the guidance of coach Larry Stefanki, Roddick has made some adjustments to his delivery on clay and hopes it will pay dividends this year.

"On most courts, if I hit my spots with my good serves, I feel pretty good about where I'm standing in the point or I've already won it. On clay it's not the case," said Roddick, who interrupted his preparation to marry model Brooklyn Decker last month.

"Something Larry wants me to do is show the kick a little bit more, and he thinks that will make my bigger serve a little bit more effective. Today it was coming off. It was warm out today so the kick was jumping around pretty good."