Andy Roddick needed three sets to beat Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.
American needs three sets to see off Stakhovsky in Cincinnati
Former champion Andy Roddick was extended to three sets by Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky in the opening round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
Ninth seed Roddick, the winner of this event in 2003 and 2006, cut a frustrated figure after losing a second set tie-break, throwing his racquet to the ground after conceding it with an unforced error, before recovering to win 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 in two hours and 15 minutes.
Roddick suffered an early exit in Washington a fortnight ago and did not play at last week's Rogers Cup due to illness.
The American, who has also dropped out of the top 10 for the first time in four years, will play Thiemo de Bekker in the second round.
Lopez falls to Dent
Roddick's compatriot Taylor Dent had earlier set up a showdown with top seed Rafael Nadal by seeing off Feliciano Lopez.
American Dent, who had not played in the main draw in Cincinnati since 2005, defeated his Spanish opponent 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.
The 29-year-old hammered down 12 aces on centre court to book a second-round clash with another Spaniard in world number one Nadal.
Dent's compatriot Sam Querrey also made it through the opening round, thrashing German Philipp Petzschner 6-1 6-4.
The world number 21, who reached the quarter-finals of the tournament back in 2007, managed two breaks of serve in each set to triumph in 50 minutes.
Nicolas Almagro joined fellow seed Marin Cilic in making an early exit, the 14th-ranked Spaniard going down 6-3 6-3 to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
Melzer cruise
However there were no such problems for Jurgen Melzer as the 13th seed from Austria eased past Santiago Giraldo 6-1 6-4.
The only other seed in action on the opening day, Spain's David Ferrer (10), was a 3-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov.
There will be an all-Serbian clash in the second round after Viktor Troicki got the better of Radek Stepanek in straight sets to progress through to a meeting with his fellow countryman Novak Djokovic, the third seed.
As well as Nadal and Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, fresh off his victory at the ATP Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday, are also playing in Cincinnati.
