LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Capdeville of Chile nearly wasted a five-point lead in a second-set tiebreaker before holding off Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn for a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory Monday in the first round of the Farmers Classic.
Capdeville, who earned a match point before Kunitsyn held serve to tie it 6-6, raced out to leads of 5-0 and 6-1 in the tiebreaker before Kunitsyn rallied.
Capdeville will face the winner of a later match between Americans Brian Baker and Rajeev Ram. Baker, who missed almost six seasons because of injuries, has climbed almost 400 places in the ATP rankings to No. 79.
American wild card entry Jack Sock was scheduled to face Italy’s Flavio Cipolla in the opening night match.
Former tournament finalist James Blake will be in action Tuesday and two-time champion Sam Querrey will play Wednesday.
