MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Andy Roddick took a tumble on his way to a first-round win Monday, tripping over the foot of a line judge.
Roddick rolled to the ground and angrily reproached the man when he stood.
``Move out of the way when you see a player coming,'' Roddick told the official before resuming the match with Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands and winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
The former No. 1-ranked Roddick was instantly concerned that the knee injury which sidelined him at the end of last season might have flared following the collision, but said he was not injured in his fall. He even joked that the line judge must have wanted a TV career as a professional wrestler.
``I ran into one of those immovable objects called a referee. He wasn't giving up any ground. I didn't see him. He wasn't really trying to do much to get out of the way,'' Roddick said.
``Normally they see a player running full speed, they decide to at least move or catch the player. You know, I felt like he was trying out for WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) or something, just letting me go.''
The 27-year-old American was taken aback slightly by a left-field question about his dog, not something he's usually quizzed about at a major.
Roddick, who often Tweets about his dog, answered anyway. For the record, his in-laws - the parents of Brooklyn Decker - are taking care of Billie while he is in Australia.
``Sometimes when I leave, the dog wants to stay in Austin, because it just tells us,'' he said. At those times, Billie stays with a friend who sends daily e-mail updates on the dog.
WTT DOWN UNDER: World TeamTennis will make its Australian debut at the Australian Open this year, with a special Australia vs Internationals match on Jan. 27.
WTT co-founder Billie Jean King says Australians will love the concept.
This year marks our 35th season and some of my favorite moments in WTT were playing alongside and against some of the Australian greats,'' King said in a statement.To have the opportunity to introduce WTT to an entirely new generation of Australian fans is both an honor and a privilege.''
The WTT match consists of five sets, with one set each of men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.
The Australian team is made up of Pat Rafter, Pat Cash, Nicole Bradtke and Alicia Molik, under the guidance of team coach John Fitzgerald.
For the Internationals, Mary Joe Fernandez will coach and play along with Tracy Austin, Goran Ivanisevic and Todd Martin.
It is good fun, interactive and high quality tennis,'' Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said.It is fiercely competitive and the team spirit is strong and adds another dimension to the tennis.''
TOUGH ROAD: Belgian Yanina Wickmayer's route to the Australian Open main draw was unusually tough. Her progress to the second round was an even bigger challenge.
No. 16-ranked Wickmayer was forced to qualify for the Grand Slam tournament because of the suspension she was under for violating the World Anti-Doping Agency's ``whereabouts rule.'' The ban was overturned last month, but not in time for entries for the Australian Open.
On Monday she held off Alexandra Dulgheru 1-6, 7-5, 10-8, officially in 3 hours, 20 minutes but much longer from beginning to end due to several rain interruptions.
I know I wasn't playing great,'' Wickmayer said.So the only thing I could get through this match was to fight for every point, just be ready for a long fight.''
Her ranking usually would have earned her the No. 16 seeding at the Australian Open, something that would have made her preparation and her path in the tournament significantly easier. But she acknowledged that her three wins in the qualifying rounds may have been beneficial.
Mentally it was good playing them,'' she said.I got a little stronger, a little tougher mentally. I think it's going to serve me well in the future.''
LOSING IN STYLE: Maria Sharapova helped design a dress especially for the Australian Open, hoping the two-layer blue-green outfit would win over admirers as she progressed through the rounds.
The blue dress with a patterned green mesh overlay was the first of the new Maria Sharapova Collection, a line of Nike tennis dresses and two-piece sets available this year.
As it turns out, her chances to model it on court ended much earlier than she expected in a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 loss to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko on the tournament's first day.
Kirilenko didn't take a lot of notice of the finer detail.
It was blue, I think, like Powerade,'' Kirilenko joked when asked by reporters to comment on her opponent's eye-catching outfit.It was a good dress. She always has nice dresses.''
Four other WTA players will compete in Sharapova's designs this year: Kai-Chen Chang of Taiwan; Julia Goerges of Germany, Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia and American Madison Keys.