London: Andy Roddick admits he is happy to let Roger Federer and Andy Murray hog the Wimbledon limelight as he seeks to take advantage of Rafael Nadal's absence from the All England Club.

With World No.1 Nadal having withdrawn from Roddick's quarter of the draw, the former runner-up looks well-placed to mount a threat to the pre-tournament favourites. And, after coming through his first round tie with a 6-3 7-6 (7/3) 4-6 6-3 win over France's Jeremy Chardy, Roddick said he had no problem with the men's singles being portrayed as a straight Murray-Federer battle.

Roddick does however feel that his experience of losing both the 2004 and 2005 finals to Federer could yet help his chances this year. "Every year's different," he said. "You're not getting wins on finals played five and six years ago. But that being said, I think it just helps."

Roddick showed no sign of the ankle injury that denied him the chance of a fifth triumph in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Queen's (he retired hurt in his semifinal).

The only blip in an otherwise impressive display was a sloppy service game that allowed the otherwise out-powered Chardy to break in the ninth game of the third set. Normal service was soon resumed however as Roddick seized the initiative at the start of the fourth set and he finally brought proceedings to a halt after 2h 18min, extending his career grasscourt record to won 64, lost 14.

Meanwhile, defending champion Venus Williams and World No.1 Dinara Safina moved into the Wimbledon second round Tuesday. Williams, the five-time, 29-year-old champion, beat Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2 in a sun-kissed Centre Court workout. Russian top seed Safina, who has never got beyond the third round, reached the last 64 with a 7-5 6-3 win over Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino and next plays Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios.