Sharapova in a rout

NEW YORK – The lady in red shanked a backhand wide, prompting Maria Sharapova’s opponent to leap in the air and pump her fist and smile as though she’d won the match – or, indeed, the U.S. Open championship itself.

Uh, not quite. That little celebration by 51st-ranked Roberta Vinci of Italy was for winning one game Tuesday night, allowing her to narrow the dressed-for-success Sharapova’s lead to 6-0, 5-1.

“I win one game, I’m happy,” Vinci said. “6-love, 6-love? No. 6-love, 6-1? OK.”

A few minutes and one hold of serve later, Sharapova’s 50-minute day was done, and she was into the second round at the tournament where she produced her second Grand Slam title a year ago.

“There’s no way to get rid of the memories when I walk on the court and feel the vibe,” the second-seeded Russian said, 600 crystals on her red dress sparkling in the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights. “Every corner I turn here, I get goose bumps.”

Andy Roddick might have similar sentiments as he walks around the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. He won the 2003 U.S. Open for his only major title, and he won his first-round match at night, following Sharapova on court and beating Justin Gimelstob 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3.

The 30-year-old Gimelstob is retiring, and Roddick hugged him at the net afterward. Gimelstob knelt down to kiss the blue court after his last U.S. Open match, then held court for a while, conducting a postmatch interview with Roddick for the fans.

Sharapova, meanwhile, compiled 15 winners before Vinci hit her first and finished with a 30-3 edge in that category during the victory. It was part of a miniparade of past champions in first-round action, including victories for Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Lleyton Hewitt.

Sharapova’s been on the wrong end of some routs at Grand Slam tournaments this year, including against Serena Williams in the Australian Open final and against Venus Williams in Wimbledon’s fourth round. Sharapova, whose breakthrough came with the 2004 Wimbledon title at age 17, has been dealing with shoulder problems much of 2007.

No signs of that on this day, although she did double-fault twice on match point in the final game. Otherwise, about the biggest problem Sharapova had was when she missed a sip of water during a changeover and spilled a spot on her custom-made outfit.

Hingis beat Mathilde Johansson of France 6-0, 6-3. Others winning included a man many consider a likely future Grand Slam champion, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic, and No. 6 James Blake. The day’s biggest early surprise came when No. 9 Daniela Hantuchova, a past U.S. Open quarterfinalist, was eliminated by 50th-ranked Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.