Top seed Andy Roddick fought off Australian Chris Guccione 6-3 6-7 7-6 at the San Jose Open on Wednesday, setting up a second round tie with Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori.

Nishikori beat Diego Hartfield of Argentina 7-5 6-3 while third seed Tommy Haas also scored a first round win over Robert Kendrick 6-3 4-6 6-2.

In second round matches, fourth seed Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic overcame American Bobby Reynolds 7-5 7-6. Robby Ginepri of the United States beat eighth seed Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-2 6-3.

“I thought I outplayed him from the start, but I’m just glad I have something to show for it,” said American Blake, the world number six.

“It’s a bit of a mental grind. It’s the sort of match where you can play horribly and win, and play well and lose.”
Roddick, who led the U.S. Davis Cup team to a first round victory over Austria in Vienna on clay 10 days ago, seemed to take a while to get used to the indoor hard court.

[1] Click here to read the full article at Guardian.