Andrew Stephen Roddick hits the ball so hard one could be forgiven for thinking it has just insulted his mother. This talent has earned him $12m in prize money, at least one title every year on tour and a grand slam victory at the US Open in 2003.

He is also the holder of the first breaking wind joke at the centre court at Wimbledon. As the umpire's chair and mic conspired to issue a rasp yesterday, the American wafted his racket gently behind his back. It brought laughter but Roddick has known a share of professional sadness.

He has finished runner-up three times in grand slams and seems condemned to be the good old boy that Roger Federer kicks around.

Roddick turned bully yesterday when he dismissed Dunai Udomchoke in a catchweight contest 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3). But he showed, too, how he is destined perhaps merely to be the big boy but not the head boy at Wimbledon.

Roddick has been cursed by arriving on the planet as the same time as Mr Federer and the American insisted this week that he would have won more grand slams if the Swiss had quietly taken up interior designing rather than tennis.

This is undoubtedly true but Roddick has contributed to his own woes. His examination paper yesterday was passed with ease but it showed the flaws in Roddick's education. His first serve drew a puff of smoke and a gasp from the crowd. He had more aces than a crook pack of cards -15 in the match, if you must know. He also executed a deft drop shot that was the key to his winning break in the first set.

But Roddick also seems to have merely one tactic: when in trouble, hit the ball harder. This crude policy can have its moments of success. Down 0-40 on his own serve in the second set, Roddick conjured up a series of missiles that flew past the bemused Udomchoke.

However, the Thai is a lightweight whose subtle game belongs, unfortunately, to a time past. Roddick will soon face the heavyweights and they will not be as easily dismissed.

Roddick, now coached by Jimmy Connors, has work to do. His backhand has, on yesterday's evidence, not improved. He moves about the court with reluctance.

If Stan Smith was the classic, buccaneering serve and volley American, Roddick is more a serve and stand man.

The power of his shot means he can make more than a decent living from such economy of movement. But his court management is poor and Connors would do well to step up lessons on the craft of winning a match against a formidable opponent.

Post-match Roddick agreed he was "not a finished product", adding: "You are always kind of looking to improve. It's an ongoing process."

He added: "I don't think you're sitting here in the middle of a tournament and you're worrying about your technique. I think you're more worried about how you're going to develop points.

I don't think too much about technique during a tournament. There's kind of a time and place for that."

He could do worse than look at a video of Federer's match against Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina.

The 18-year-old is more than promising and gave the champion a good workout although the Swiss took the first two sets. Federer was able to move the youngster around the court and step up his game at the vital moments. He is a champion who seizes the moment.

The break in the second set came in the final game after the world No.1 suddenly seemed to tire of the Argentine prodigy and put him to bed.

This nous is allied to impeccable technique. It provides a platform that is stable, perhaps unassailable.

Roddick has a more limited armoury even if its potency gives him cause for hope.

"I came into the tournament pretty confident," he said. "The thing is to just give yourself another opportunity to play another day."

He did that on a day when conditions were difficult with a strong, capricious breeze and a cool climate.

"It's billowing kind of hard," said Roddick. But that's enough about the umpire and his chair.