Roddick overpowers Seppi in third round

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former champion Andy Roddick used an overwhelming serve to power past Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2 7-5 7-6 on Sunday and reach the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

The eighth-seeded Roddick, who dropped his serve for the only time in the fifth game of the third set, broke back against Seppi in the 10th game and captured the deciding tiebreak 7-4 after two forehand errors by his 31st-ranked opponent.

Roddick, whose 2003 Open victory is the last grand slam singles triumph by an American man, hammered in 73 percent of his first serves, including 19 aces, hitting a top speed of 140 mph.

The American said getting into form after recovering from shoulder tendonitis that forced him to skip the French Open and post mixed results in the run-up to the Open.

"For the first time in a little while, I feel like I'm match tough," said Roddick, who swept the first 15 points on his serve in the second set.

"I've gotten in some tough moments here and played my way out of them pretty good, so that's a good sign.'

Roddick, who missed the Olympics so he could rehabilitate his shoulder and his game, passed a difficult 3-6 7-5 6-2 7-5 test in the second round against big-hitting Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

"You're always moving in one of two directions," Roddick said. "And I'm going in the right one right now."

The 26-year-old Roddick said nothing prepared him for competition better than competition.

"There's no such way as kind of working your way back in," he said. "The guy's trying to beat you from the word go.

"You're in the breakers, you're in the 5-all points, and you have to play them tough and I felt like I did that the other night and today, so that's good.'

Roddick, who has reached at least the quarter-finals of the Open six times, said he believed his experiences at the 23,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium gave him an edge and that the Open was his best chance for winning another major.

"This can be an intimidating place, the biggest court in tennis," he said. "I think I just feel comfortable with the elements here, because I've been through them so many times. I think that helps."

Roddick will next meet either 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile or Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)