WASHINGTON, Aug 12: Fourth seed Tommy Haas needed three sets to overcome South African qualifier Rik de Voest in their opening round encounter at the ATP event in Washington on Monday, the German winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to advance.

Beaten in the first round of last week’s event in Los Angeles, Haas set up a clash with talented Frenchman Nicolas Mahut as he joined six other men in the next round, including Americans John Isner and Bobby Reynolds.

Isner, a finalist here 12 months ago but now down to 134 in the world rankings, ousted eighth seed Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

The American will now play compatriot Donald Young, who was a convincing 6-3, 6-1 winner over Luis Horna of Peru in the final match of the evening.

Reynolds was a surprise winner over French seventh seed Marc Gicquel, triumphing 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to move through to a meeting with either German Denis Gremelmayr, a semi-finalist in Los Angeles, or Viktor Troicki of Serbia.

Arguably the best result of the night was provided by Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, who beat veteran American Taylor Dent 7-6, 2-6, 6-1.

The 27-year-old Dent had taken a wildcard into the tournament after several years of injury woes but in his first event of the year, he was eventually worn down by the world number 314, who enjoyed the biggest win of his career.

Devvarman will now play either third seed Feliciano Lopez or American qualifier Robert Kendrick.

Frenchman Florent Serra and Israel’s Dudi Sela were the other players to advance on Monday.

Top seed Andy Roddick and another former world No 1 Marat Safin were slated to begin their campaigns on Tuesday.

Monday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

First round: Donald Young (US) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 6-3, 6-1; John Isner (US) bt 8-Marcel Granollers (Spain) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-1); Bobby Reynolds (US) bt 7-Marc Gicquel (France) 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 6-4; 4-Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Rik De Voest (South Africa) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Florent Serra (France) bt Uladzimir Ignatik (Belarus) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Somdev Dev Varman (India) bt Taylor Dent (US) 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-1; Dudi Sela (Israel) bt Vince Spadea (US) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.

MAKAROVA OUSTED

MASON (Ohio): Unseeded Camille Pin of France upset seventh-seeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the Cincinnati Women’s Open on Monday.

Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik became the first seeded player to advance as the fourth seed beat American Amanda Fink 6-3, 6-3.

No 3 seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia, the highest seed to play on the first day, held off Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 6-2, 7-5.

Austria’s Tamira Paszek became the second seeded player to be eliminated when she was forced by a viral illness to retire in the third set of her match against Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, who was leading the eighth-seeded Paszek 4-6, 6-3, 4-1.American wild card Lilia Osterloh beat Anne Keothavong of Britain 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that last more than 2 1/2 hours.

In other first-round matches, Nathalie Dechy beat Olivia Sanchez 6-2, 6-2 in an all-French battle, Julie Ditty of the United States beat Yuan Meng of China 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, Canada’s Stephanie Dubois topped Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 7-6, and Sabine Lisicki of Germany outlasted Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 5-7, 7-5, 6-0.

Results:

First round: Lilia Osterloh (US) bt Anne Keothavong (Britain) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4; 3-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 6-2, 7-5; Sabine Lisicki (Germany) bt Anna Tatishvili (Georgia) 5-7, 7-5, 6-0; 4-Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) bt Amanda Fink (US) 6-3, 6-3; Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) bt 8-Tamira Paszek (Austria) 4-6, 6-3, 4-1 – Paszek retired; Stephanie Dubois (Canada) bt Evgeniya Rodina (Russia) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); Julie Ditty (US) bt Yuan Meng (China) 2-6 6-1 6-4; Nathalie Dechy (France) bt Olivia Sanchez (France) 6-2, 6-2; Camille Pin (France) beat 7-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-2, 6-0.—Agencies