David Nalbandian needed almost two hours to defeat Steve Darcis of Belgium in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, beating him 6-4  7-6 (0).

Nalbandian will play the 9th seed Janko Tipsarevic in round two.

Also through is the 33 year old German Tommy Haas, who dismissed Guillaume Rufin of France in straight sets 6-4  6-4.

Next up for Haas will be the 25th seed Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic.

Also through are Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, who overcame American Ryan Sweeting 6-4  6-4, Lukas Rosol ousted the Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4  7-6 (6) and Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3  6-2.

Giraldo’s next opponent will be the no.2 seed and last year’s finalist Spaniard Nadal.