MELBOURNE, Jan 15: A tortured and tormented Andy Roddick staggered into the second round of the Australian Open after dousing the fireworks produced by a little-known Frenchman today.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had barely registered on the tennis radar until his trip to Melbourne Park, but penned his name into tennis folklore when he won a marathon first-set tiebreak 20-18, equalling the record for longest breaker in the tournament's history.

Yet the 212th-ranked wildcard was unable to sustain his heroics and despite being a set and 5-2 up he went down fighting 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-3, much to the relief of the sixth-seeded American.

Champions Roger Federer and Amelie Mauresmo avoided any such drama.

Mauresmo, brandishing winners from all angles, consigned American Shenay Perry to a 6-3 6-4 defeat.

Federer overcame a wobbly first set and glided to a 7-5 6-0 6-4 victory over Bjorn Phau as he began his pursuit of a 10th grand slam title.

The only blip Mauresmo had was when she was a set and 5-1 up. Perhaps blinded by Perry's fluorescent lime green outfit, Mauresmo went on to lose three games on the trot but regained her focus in the nick of time to close out a 74-minute win.

''I thought I lost some intensity in the end, I probably should have closed it out a little bit quicker, but that's the way it is,'' said Mauresmo, who earned her maiden slam here 12 months ago.

RARE DISTINCTION

Germany's Phau held the rare distinction of holding a winning record over Federer -- thanks to coming out on top in their solitary meeting in 1999 -- but that accolade lasted just one hour and 47 minutes in the stifling heat on Rod Laver Arena.

After producing some erratic errors in the first set, when he was broken three times, Federer was back to his sublime best.

''I got a little nervous because I got broken three times in the first set and that's not usual for me,'' said the top seed.

For Roddick, though, things did not look great for over an hour.

Playing an opponent who is ranked so low that he does not even merit an entry in the ATP handbook, Roddick barely knew what hit him early on. The fired-up American was left fuming and swearing at 10-10 in the first set tiebreak when he thought the 21-year-old Tsonga's shot had landed beyond the baseline.

Although instant-replay is making its debut at this year's tournament, the technology was not available in the Vodafone Arena and Roddick had no choice but to accept the umpire's verdict.

With both players going for broke, they continued to battle nose-to-nose as set points came and went.

RUSSIANS PROGRESS

After Roddick was reduced to even swatting the ball on bended knees, 10-10 went on to 15-15 and then 18-18 -- thus eclipsing the famous 18-16 tussle between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final.

Just when as it seemed there was no end in sight, a netted error from Roddick handed Tsonga the set if not the match.

''I was thinking if we were ever going to finish the tiebreaker,'' grinned the 2003 US Open champion.

The American, though, cannot afford such lapses again as he is heading for a third-round collision with 2005 champion Marat Safin, who plays later yesterday.

Croatian fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic became the most notable casualty on day one. His 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-4 battering by Mardy Fish was his second successive first-round flop in grand slams.

Cypriot 11th seed Marcos Baghdatis's cheering squad were back in town and hollered their man to a 6-4 2-6 6-3 6-2 win over Germany's Rainer Schuettler in a battle of former finalists.

Fifth seed Nadia Petrova led a quintet of Russian women into the second round. She was joined by seventh seed Elena Dementieva, Maria Kirilenko, Elena Vesnina.

Olga Poutchkova earned the unenviable task of taking on Mauresmo following a 6-2 6-4 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.

Conditions at the Open were scorching while Swede Joachim Johansson quit after just two games with blisters and Czech Jan Hajek fell foul to a stomach bug after three games.

REUTERS