Roddick, who skipped the Beijing Olympics to recover from his injury, beat Santoro — the oldest man in the draw at 35 — 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
The match ended with Santoro thinking Roddick had tried to hit him with the ball. Roddick said that wasn’t the case and he would try to seek out Santoro to clear the air.
Roddick blasted 41 winners past the overmatched Frenchman, including 15 aces. The American lost just four points on his first serve the entire match.
“I felt good. That’s the best I’ve felt in four, five months,” Roddick, 25, said in a courtside interview.
“Something about this place always gets me energized.”
The third night traditionally showcases the first men’s match of the second round, but this year that was saved until Thursday. All women’s matches Wednesday were second-round pairings.
Also on Wednesday, No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic shook off an injury to his left ankle in the third set and beat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic rolled the ankle while going for a shot on the right sideline in the fourth game. After receiving on-court treatment, he wrapped up the match with a break of Clement’s serve.
Fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No. 19 seed, moved on with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over Santiago Ventura; and No. 18 Nicolas Almagro beat Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
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