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.
Join the Stevegtennis.com tennis club for free. Just enter your email below for...
- Tennis news updates once a week.
- Special offers on tennis gear.
- Unsubscribe at any time.
- We will never share your email.