Roddick beat French qualifier Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday night to reach the second round of the $2.5 million Masters Canada tournament.

Benneteau had a 2-1 lead in the second set when he was forced to duck abruptly to avoid being hit by Roddick’s passing shot. He required treatment on his neck and returned with the score tied 2-2. But he didn”t have enough to match up with the hard-hitting Roddick, the second seed.

“It’s unfortunate he got hurt because I think it was pretty high-level tennis until then,” Roddick said. “He wasn”t going to rally too much, he was going to go for his shots and win or lose going for it.”