Fifth-seeded Tommy Haas started fast and then had to push hard in the second set before beating Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-4 on Monday night in the first round of the US Men's Clay Court Championships.
Later, Albert Montanes of Spain took advantage of erratic play by third-seeded Robby Ginepri for a 6-4, 6-4 victory in another first-round match.
Ginepri, ranked 19th in the world, broke Montanes in the sixth game of the second set, but Montanes broke back in the seventh game to keep the advantage.
Haas, the 2004 tournament winner, breezed through the first set in 25 minutes before Hernandez stepped up in the second set. He broke Haas in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead, but the German broke back in the seventh game.
Haas took charge of the match when he went up 5-4 after he had Hernandez down love-40. The Spaniard fought off two break points but lost it at the third break point with a double fault. Haas then served for the match and won it at the second match point when Hernandez's return of serve sailed wide.
Haas, ranked 27th in the world, extended his match record to 21-5 this season. He played Hernandez for the first time.
"I didn't know what to expect from him," Haas said. "You could have put 20 players up there and I couldn't have picked him out. I asked a few friends and they said he was a typical clay-court player. I decided to play a little clay-court tennis at times and to get aggressive."
Haas has won titles this year in Delray Beach, Florida, and Memphis, Tennessee.
In other matches on Monday, Olivier Marach of Austria defeated Juan Antonio Marin of Costa Rica 6-4, 6-1, and Jurgen Melzer of Austria downed Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7), 6-0.
Top-seeded Andy Roddick, ranked fourth in the world, has been in the finals of the tournament the last five years, including three titles in that span. Roddick was set to face Paul Capdeville of Chile last night.
Former top-10 player Vera Zvonareva temporarily stalled rising fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the first round of the Family Circle Cup on Monday.
Zvonareva, who peaked at No. 9 in 2004, has slipped to 47th. Despite reaching the final of her first tournament in Auckland in January, her match record was only 7-8. She'll play another compatriot, seventh-seeded Dinara Safina, next.
Vesnina was one more Russian on the up at 19. She was at a career-high 64th ranking after wins over top-20 players Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone in the past two weeks. Her service let her down on Monday; she won less than half of her first serves.
It was a similar theme for 13th-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, who lost 7-5, 6-3 to Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico. Brandi had gone six tournaments without a win since January.
No. 14-seeded Lucie Safarova came from a set down to beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 and remain on course for a third-round showdown with Nadia Petrova, who beat the Czech teenager in last week's semifinals at Amelia Island.
Italy's Mara Santangelo, seeded 16th, broke France's Stephanie Foretz three times and saved all five break points she faced en route to a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Sybille Bammer of Austria beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-1 and will play top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne in the second round.
Henin-Hardenne, having a first-round bye, was 11-0 in Charleston after winning the title in 2003 and last year.
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