Stepanek cruises past Somdev at Japan Open
Seventh seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat India's Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-3 in a first-round match at the Japan Open on Monday.
Seventh seed Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat India's Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-3 in a first-round match at the Japan Open on Monday.
Stepanek and Somdev exchanged breaks in the first set before Stepanek broke the Indian again in the 10th game to take the set at Ariake Colosseum.
Somdev broke Stepanek in the opening game of the second set and moved out to a 3-1 lead, but Stepanek then reeled off five straight games to take the match in 1 hour, 32 minutes.
Fourth seed Mardy Fish was to play fellow American Ryan Harrison in another first-round clash later Monday.
Top seed Rafael Nadal, the defending champion in the $1.2 million event, will take on wildcard Go Soeda of Japan in his first-round match on Tuesday.
Second seed Andy Murray of Great Britain will meet Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus also on Tuesday.