Fourth-seeded German Tommy Haas needed a tiebreaker to get past wild card Devin Britton 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) Tuesday in the first round of the ATP Tour's SAP Open.
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"His serve was working really well for him - not only really hard but with good placement and I could not get a good read on it," Haas said.
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"Also serving and volleying on second serve and mixing it up, that really surprised me. I played good at the times I needed. The first match is always tough anyway because you never know how you're going to feel."
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Sixth-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber also advanced, downing American Rajeev Ram 6-7 (7/9), 6-1, 6-3, and seventh-seeded American Sam Querrey beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-2.
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Germany's Bjorn Phau beat eighth-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-1.<o:p></o:p>
American Michael Russell, who played in his first professional tournament two years ago when he was 15, beat lucky loser Im Kyu Tae of Korea 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.
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Im got his place in the draw when American Mardy Fish withdrew with a left knee injury.
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Fish, who planned to continue playing doubles here with Querrey, had surgery on the knee in September and was able to compete in the Australian Open.
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"For whatever reason the knee is not where it needs to be and not 100 percent," Fish said in a statement.
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Top-seeded Andy Roddick, who meets qualifier Ryler DeHeart in his opening match Wednesday, has also battled a sore knee after he was injured in Shanghai last October.<o:p></o:p>
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He also had to contend with a sore shoulder in his five-set loss to Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
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"It was a little touch and go for a while about playing here," the world number seven said. 
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"But I got the clearance I needed after the Australian Open. The first match will be telling. If I get through that one I should be OK. I'm going to have to work my way into this tournament."<o:p></o:p>
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Fourth-seeded German Tommy Haas needed a tiebreaker to get past wild card Devin Britton 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) Tuesday in the first round of the ATP Tour's SAP Open.

Haas battles hard to win first round at SAP Open

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Haas battles hard to win first round at SAP Open

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