Host of Americans reach second round

Four young Americans all won their first round matches at the SAP Open in San Jose. Academy student Jesse Levine knocked off Steve Darcis 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 and will either face Sam Warburg or James Blake in the second round. Levine lost his first round match last week in Delray Beach, so it is great to see him get back in the winner’s column.

Joining Levine are John Isner, Wayne Odesnik, and Bobby Reynolds. Isner defeated Florent Serra 7-6(5), 6-4 and faces either third-seeded Tommy Haas or American Robert Kendrick in the second round. Odesnik took down fellow American youngster Donald Young 6-1, 5-7, 7-4 and awaits the winner between Academy pro Max Mirnyi and Yen-Hsun Lu. Finally, Reynolds beat German qualifier Benedikt Dorsch 7-5, 6-4 and will take on fourth-seeded Radek Stepanek in the second round.

Two other players won their first round matches on Monday. Eighth-seeded Kristof Vliegen defeated Victor Hanescu 6-4, 7-6(4), and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez upset sixth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(6).

Last week’s champion in Delray Beach, Academy student Kei Nishikori will face Diego Hartfield in the first round. That match is not scheduled to be played today.

Youzhny, Baghdatis, Ferrero fall in Rotterdam

Fourth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny lost his opening round match at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 7-6(3), 6-4. This is the first time this season that Youzhny has failed to win his first round match. Tipsarevic will face Gilles Simon in the second round.

Seventh-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain lost his first round match to Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-5, 6-1. Ferrero lost in the second round last week in Marseille. Gabashvili will face Nicolas Mahut in the second round. Mahut beat Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round.

Also losing was eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis. The Cypriot fell to Robin Soderling 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the first round. Soderling will take on either Fernando Verdasco or Jarkko Nieminen in the second round.

Hard-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic won his first round match 6-1, 6-2 over Olivier Rochus of Belgium. Karlovic awaits the winner between fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych and Ivan Ljubicic in the second round.

Other winners included: Michael Berrer and Mischa Zverev.

Nalbandian wins opener in home country

Top-seeded David Nalbandian took down Peter Luczak 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Copa Telmex in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Nalbandian, who last played in the Davis Cup earlier this month, will face either Fabio Fognini or Eduardo Schwank in the second round.

Also winning were seventh-seeded Potito Starace and unseeded Jiri Vanek. Starace took down Serbian Boris Pashanski 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 and Vanek beat Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 7-5. Starace will face either Nicolas Lapentti or Juan Pablo Brzezicki in the second round.

Tier I Qatar Total Open begins in Doha

The stars are out for the Qatar Total Open this week in Doha and play has begun. The top eight seeds – Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapvoa, Anna Chakvetadze, Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli – all received byes into the second round. Last year’s champion, Justine Henin, is not playing in the tournament this year.

The aforementioned Bartoli, who is seeded eighth, lost her opening round match this morning to Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-3. Also falling was tenth-seeded Nadia Petrova, as she was forced to retire in the second set against Anabel Medina Garrigues because of gastritis. Medina Garrigues will take on Russian Maria Kirilenko in the second round. 

Seeded winners included #11 Dinara Safina, #12 Shahar Peer, #14 Amelie Mauresmo, #15 Sbyille Bammer, and #16 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Other winners included: Virginie Razzano, Vera Zvonareva, Dominika Cibulkova, Yan Zi, Tamarine Tanasugarn, Yaroslva Shvedova, Galina Voskoboeva, and Monica Niculescu.