Haas starts strong in Memphis
Haas starts strong in Memphis 
From correspondents in Memphis, Tennessee
Former Australian Captain February 26, 2008
THIRD seed Tommy Haas came out with plenty of spark at the $830,000 Memphis ATP/WTA tournament by beating Diego Hartfield 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round. With the win, Haas avenged a first-round loss to Hartfield at Delray Beach earlier in the month.
A two-time defending champion and three-time overall winner of the hardcourt event, Haas, of Germany, took advantage of five service breaks to improve to 27-6 all-time in Memphis.
Last season, Haas successfully defended his title by routing top-seeded American Andy Roddick, 6-3 6-2, and completing a run in which he did not drop a set.
Haas, who owns 11 career titles, is in the bottom half of the draw.
No. 2 seed James Blake pulled out of the tournament, complaining of a knee injury.
Blake was scheduled to face young American Donald Young in a first-round match on Tuesday. Young, instead, will open against lucky loser Sam Warburg.
Less than a week ago, Blake lost the San Jose tournament final to 244th ranked Kei Nishikori of Japan.
The top seed is Roddick, who defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic in San Jose on Sunday to win his third SAP Open title. He will open against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg later in the week.
In the only other match Monday that involved a seeded player, No. 7 Jurgen Melzer of Austria battled past American John Isner, 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
American Robert Kendrick also had a disappointing outing, dropping a 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) decision to Chris Guccione of Australia.
In the opening round of the women’s side, favourite Lindsay Davenport advanced past German qualifier Sabine Lisicki 7-5 6-3.
The fourth seed in this Tier III event, Davenport next will face Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina, a 7-5 6-4 winner over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.
Davenport was the lone seeded player in action Monday.
In other results, Americans Vania King, Mashona Washington and Lilia Osterloh all lost.
King fell to Canadian Stephanie Dubois, 6-2 2-6 6-1. It was the first WTA Tour win of the season for the 21-year-old Dubois.
The top seed in the women’s draw is Venus Williams, who won the title here last year in her first appearance.
Playing for the first time since a quarter-final showing at the Australian Open, Williams will open against 17-year-old qualifier Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Williams, 27, dropped just one set en route to last year’s title, routing Israel’s Shahar Peer, 6-1 6-1, in the final.
Agence France-Presse