Andy Roddick admitted he had a tough time retaining focus to overcome old friend Justin Gimelstob on Court One at Wimbledon.

The number three seed eventually recorded a 6-1 7-5 7-6 (7-3) victory following a rain delay of almost two hours at the All England Club.

Gimelstob - who had missed the end of last season and the opening few months of 2007 after recovering from major back surgery - was happy to play to the crowd as he pushed his fellow American in the final two sets, one of which included an epic game of 10 deuces.

The 30-year-old produced a number of trademark acrobatic dives, and also recorded the first Hawk-eye challenge at Wimbledon following the new rules at this year's tournament.

In the end, though, Roddick - who won the Artois Championship at Queen's earlier this month - kept his cool to secure safe passage into the second round.

"I have known Justin a long time," said Roddick.

"He used to play doubles with my brother in juniors.

"As Justin will, he was playing to the crowd a little bit today, doing all that stuff, even kind of talking on switch overs.

"I was trying as hard as I can, because I think he is hilarious, right or wrong with his opinions.

"I was trying to keep it together and kind of focus in.

"He makes that a little tough for you sometimes."

Roddick added: "It was a weird match because I felt like the best set I played was the toughest one.

"I started to kind of find my rhythm on my returns a little bit in the third set, and yet did not have a lot to show for it there for the majority of it."

Roddick revealed the two Americans had engaged in plenty of good natured banter.

He said: "We had [bets on] dives, which I am not sure of the total number.

"My brother set it at eight, and it was real close.

"A couple of them Justin did not have to dive - he actually said at one point, 'that was for John's over/under'.

"We also had a bet when he said he would be the first person in history to dive during the warm up.

"I actually messed that one up because I could not get the ball in the right spot for him."

Gimelstob took advantage of the new challenge rule a couple of times, the first being in his service game during the second set.

That time, the call was shown to be correct - but the veteran American did get it right on the next occasion during the tie-break.

Roddick is all for the changes.

He said: "I am kind of like a broken record in my support of Hawk-eye.

"I feel like it is not only good for the players, I feel like it translates well to TV.

"There is a kind of the anticipation when you challenge, when you kind of see the ball, what it is doing on the court, when it finally lands.

"I feel the crowd enjoys that and I am all for it."

Gimelstob believes former world number one Roddick - twice a runner-up at Wimbledon - has the game to go all the way this year.

He said: "I have a ton of respect for Andy, personally and professionally, so I hope he goes on and wins the tournament."

As for his own game, the veteran American quipped: "I dive most of the time because I am slow and I have poor balance."