It wasn’t a pretty sight, but Andy Roddick is through the first round of the Australian Open. The 22-year-old American, seeded second, played a sloppy first set Tuesday morning against Georgia’s Irakli Labadze before cruising to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory.

The match was at times comical. Labadze has the look of a man who has taken up tennis to improve his health on the direct orders of his physician. He struggles to cover the court and seems incapable of hitting his backhand on the run. His left-handed forehand, however, is a cannon, and he kept Roddick out of rhythm for the first set.

After an early break in the second set, Labadze began to roll over. By the final set, the 23-year-old seemed willing to flick the ball in Roddick’s direction and watch him hit winners.

On Monday evening, Andre Agassi said his injured hip feels a lot better, and he had the shots to prove it.

The 34-year-old hit 52 winners in a tidy first-round appearance, dispatching German qualifier Dieter Kindlmann, 6-4, 6-3, 6-0. He said afterwards that the tendon he injured in an exhibition match last week had improved and could be 100% soon – as long as he stays on a steady diet of anti-inflammatory medication. “I’m going to have them every day,” he said. “I might have them every day the rest of my life.”

If the hip holds up, Agassi could collide with top-seed Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. The two last played in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, where Agassi pushed the world no. 1 to five sets over two days of tennis marred by rain and 30 mph winds.

Next up for Agassi is another German, Rainer Schuettler, whom Agassi clobbered in the 2003 Australian Open final.