Fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and unseeded
American Taylor Dent were first-round winners Monday at the $600,000 SAP Open.
Dent topped fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor
hardcourts at HP Pavilion. On the final match of the night, Berdych overcame a
few saved match points by his opponent before finally putting away AMerican
Wayne Odesnik, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5.
Additional Day-1 wins came for Finn Jarkko Nieminen, Israeli Dudi Sela,
Argentina's Leonardo Mayer and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
This week's top seeds are American Andy Roddick and Spaniard Fernando
Verdasco. Roddick is a three-time San Jose titlist (2004, 2005 and 2008).
Czech Radek Stepanek, seeded third this week, beat American Mardy Fish in last
year's finale here.
In the evening session, Fernando Verdasco, the No. 2 seed here, beat 14-time
Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras in an exhibition match, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).
The 2010 San Jose champ will collect $90,925.
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