WASHINGTON (AP) - Tommy Haas and Alexandr Dolgopolov earned straight-set victories to advance to the second round of the Citi Open on Tuesday.
The fourth-seeded Haas defeated American qualifier Michael Russell 6-4, 6-2, and No. 2 Dolgopolov beat Flavio Cipolla 6-1, 6-3.
On the women’s side, top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia won six of nine break point chances to eliminate Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-4, 6-3.
Only a brief rain delay between sets slowed Haas, the last player to beat Roger Federer this year. Despite a spotty first serve, the 34-year-old German never faced a break point, and he broke Russell’s serve three times.
Dolgopolov needed less than an hour to dispatch Cipolla, breaking the Italian four times without dropping his serve. The 23-year-old player from Ukraine had lost his previous two matches against Cipolla, but relied on a blistering forehand to maintain control _ including a nice passing shot on match point.
Xavier Malisse, a Washington semifinalist in 2010, rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Mardy Fish, the top seed in the men’s draw, and fellow American Sam Querrey were slated to play their opening matches later Tuesday.
Haas defeated Federer in the finale in Halle, Germany, a pre-Wimbledon tune up before Federer went on to win the grass court major title.
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