TOKYO (AP) — Ivan Dodig of Croatia beat eighth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (1) in the first round at the Japan Open on Tuesday.
In a hard-fought battle at Ariake Colosseum, Dodig fought off one match point in his final service game of the third set to force the tiebreak, where he dominated his higher-ranked opponent to clinch the victory in 2 hours, 42 minutes.
Dodig will take on another Argentine, David Nalbandian, in the second round after the 2002 Wimbledon finalist easily beat Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.
Also, American Alex Bogomolov Jr. beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4.
Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain will play Japanese wild card Go Soeda in a first-round match later Tuesday.
