Sixth-seeded Mardy Fish of the US beat James Ward of Great Britain 6-1, 6-2 on Monday in the first round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.
No. 8 seed Benjamin Becker of Germany was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Michael Russell, who at 32 is the oldest American ranked in the ATP top 100 world rankings.
Fish earned his fourth career title on July 10 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island. After taking a couple of days to rest, Fish practiced late last week on hard courts for the first time since March.
PHOTO: AFP
In other matches, Rainer Schuettler of Germany beat Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4. Illya Marchenko of Ukraine defeated Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen 6-4, 7-6 (4), and American Rajeev Ram held off Karol Beck of Slovaki 6-4, 7-6 (4).
■GERMAN OPEN
AP, HAMBURG, GERMANY
Spanish qualifier Pere Riba rallied to upset last year’s runner-up Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 1-6, 6-0, 6-3 on Monday for a spot in the second round of the German Open.
Italy’s Potito Starace and Fabio Fognini also reached the second round, posting straight-sets wins.
Starace defeated German qualifier Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-0. Fognini beat Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-4.
■GASTEIN LADIES
AP, BAD GASTEIN, AUSTRIA
Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania rallied to beat Kathrin Woerle of Germany 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday in the first round of the Gastein Ladies.
Olaru, who lost to Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in last year’s final, served 11 double faults but converted her seventh match point.
Alize Cornet of France routed Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-0 while Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine beat Tatjana Malek of Germany 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-2.
Simona Halep of Romania also advanced by defeating Renata Voracova of Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2.
■SLOVENIA OPEN
AP, PORTOROZ, SLOVENIA
Sixth-seeded Vera Dushevina of Russia reached the second round of the Slovenia Open on Monday after rallying for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Anna Lapushchenkova.
Tamira Paszek of Austria also advanced by beating Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia 7-5, 6-2.
Andreja Klepac of Slovenia lost in straight sets to Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay.
France’s Virginie Razzano ousted Zuzana Kucova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-5, and Anna Chakvetadze defeated fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-1.
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