After a false start, Andy Roddick’s summer has begun. The American yesterday won his first hard-court title on the road to the U.S. Open with an overwhelming display of serving, defeating James Blake 7-5, 6-3 at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C.

For Roddick, the victory over a friend and fellow American must have brought a sense of relief. Heavily favored in Indianapolis two weeks ago, he failed to convert three match points in the quarterfinals, and took a surprising fall at the hands of Robby Ginepri. Rather than race back onto the court in Los Angeles the following week, he skipped the Mercedes-Benz Cup, ostensibly to rest his ailing knee, but more likely to free his mind of Roger Federer and the Wimbledon blowout.

Roddick looked relaxed yesterday while doing did what he does best: smash aces (18 in all). When he took a 4-2 lead in the first set, Roddick had yet to lose a service game in the tournament – 56 straight, with only two break points against. Blake did break him in the first set, but in all Roddick lost more sets last week (two, both in tiebreaks) than service games. Several times yesterday, he reached the mid-140 mph range, and he ended the match with an ace.

Considering how well Federer handles Roddick’s serve and how infrequently he loses his own, some have contended in recent years that the world no. 1 owns a better serve than Roddick, despite its slower speed. Miles per hour perhaps do not mean as much as placement when we are talking about the difference between 130 mph and 145 mph, but in any case, the argument in favor of Federer is nonsense.

Year in and year out, Roddick has the best serve, and statistics to prove it.So far this year, he leads the tour in aces – 606 in 46 matches through August 1 – and percentage of service games held (92%); Federer wins 90% of his service games, but has just 432 aces in 61 matches. Roddick ranks eighth in first-serve percentage (65%),a category where six of the top 10 are clay-court players who use their serves to start points, not finish them (Rafael Nadal leads the tour with 69%). Roddick also leads the tour in first-serve points won (81%) and break points saved (72%).

Federer ranks behind Roddick in all these categories and bests him in just one: secondserve points won (60% for Federer compared to 55% for Roddick). It’s a misleading statistic, in that a better percentage does not mean Federer has a better second serve. What he does have is a better forehand, backhand, and volley, not to mention more speed and more precise footwork. When second serves come back, Federer has endless options at his disposal. Roddick does not, yet he still wins more service games (92% to 90%) and saves more break points (72% to 67%). In other words, more evidence that his serve is superior.

Blake witnessed that superiority firsthand yesterday. It seemed that he might fold after losing the first three games of the match, but he found his footing and took the first set to 5-5. Unfortunately, Blake decided to play his three worst points of the match in a row while serving at 5-6. His feet, some of the fastest on tour, became tentative on a forehand wide and then a backhand long. Trailing 30-40, he blasted an overhead past the baseline, losing the set.

Roddick again made Blake pay the price for loose play in the second set, breaking for a 5-3 lead and then serving out the match. With the win, Roddick now leads the standings in the U.S. Open Series and is on track to double his prize money at the U.S. Open.

For Blake, who won his only title here in 2002, just reaching the final was a feat. In the last two years, he has suffered through a serious neck injury, a paralyzing virus, and the death of his father. At this point, the 25-year-old Blake seems to be playing at about the level that put him inside the top 25 two years ago (after yesterday, he will move inside the top 70).

Blake’s speed is perhaps his best asset, and often his most underused. For a player who can track down so many balls and frustrate big hitters like Roddick with lunging returns and scrambling forehands, Blake tries to hit too many winners and commits too many errors. His talents are more similar to Lleyton Hewitt’s than they are to Roddick’s, yet he often tries to play overpowering tennis. If Blake concentrates on consistency and defense, he may move further up the rankings than ever.

Roddick is in action again this week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, the first of back-to-back Masters Series events, and there is a new no. 1 in town. As Federer, the defending champion, continues to rest his ailing feet, Nadal, now ranked no. 2 in the world, will take the no. 1 seed. Nadal, who returned to Europe after Wimbledon and won two consecutive clay tournaments, and Hewitt, who has rested since Australia’s Davis Cup loss to Argentina last month, will make life a lot more difficult for the no. 3-seeded Roddick. Andre Agassi is playing as well, including an opening match tonight on ESPN2 against Alberto Martin of Spain.

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As Venus Williams recovered from the flu, her sister Serena from a knee injury, Lindsay Davenport from a bad back, and Maria Sharapova from a slightly less bad back, Mary Pierce stepped into the spotlight again this week, turning back the clock with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama at the Acura Classic in San Diego. It was Pierce’s first title this year and first final since she was drubbed by Justine Henin-Hardenne at the French Open.

Sugiyama, her left thigh heavily wrapped, looked worn out from playing both singles and doubles the entire week – she and her doubles partner, Daniela Hantuchova, lost to Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, 6-7(7), 6-1, 7-5.

Early in the second set yesterday, Pierce had struck 21 winners to Sugiyama’s one. The match lacked drama, other than the seven match points Pierce needed before winning (and as always with Pierce, seemingly hours of ball-bouncing and fidgeting with each serve).

In other action yesterday, promising 18-year-old Gael Monfils of France won his first title with a 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5 victory over Florian Mayer at the IDEA Prokom Open in Sopot, Poland, on clay.