Ivan Dodig of Croatia beat No. 8 seed Bernard Tomic of Australia 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8) Monday in the opening round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. The unseeded Dodig survived two match points in a third-set tiebreaker, winning when Tomic netted an easy volley to end the nearly three-hour match. “I was really happy after the match because I've been losing tight, tight matches,” Dodig said. “This is going to give me more confidence.” American Donald Young also won, outlasting Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6). Young, 22, survived a shaky outing in which he was broken five times and had seven double faults. American John Isner, the tournament's top seed, plays his first match Tuesday against Gilles Muller. Isner is ranked a career-best 13th. Second-seeded American Andy Roddick, the defending champion in Memphis, plays his first match Wednesday night. The 29-year-old is 27th in the latest ATP rankings, his lowest position since August 2001. In the Memphis International, the accompanying women's event, top-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia was ousted by 20-year-old qualifer Camila Giorgi of Italy, 6-4, 6-2. Among those advancing to the second round were No. 3 seed Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic, No. 4 seed Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, who upset No. 6 seed Elena Baltacha of Britain 6-2, 6-1. Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden, the 2006 Memphis champion, also won her first-round match, a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Heather Watson of Britain. In a doubles exhibition, former world No. 1 John McEnroe, who turned 53 last week, teamed with 19-year-old Jack Sock to beat Sam Querrey and James Blake, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Nishikori reaches 2nd round In Argentina, rising Japanese star Kei Nishikori reached the second round of the Copa Claro with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over former top-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain Monday. The fourth-seeded Nishikori reached the quarterfinals last month of the Australian Open and showed in Argentina he can also play on outdoor clay, probably his least favorite surface. In another key first-round match, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, who will retire next month after the Masters tournament in Florida, advanced after Spaniard Albert Montanes retired during the second set with a hip injury. Gonzalez was leading 7-5, 1-0. No. 6-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Argentina's Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4 to advance. Also in the first round, Carlos Berlocq of Argentina defeated Pere Riba of Spain, 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-0, Victor Hanescu of Romania won over Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) and Facundo Bagnis beat fellow Argentine Leonardo Mayer 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
