They were younger than some of the ball kids. But Monday when Arlington’s Denis Kudla and Gaithersburg’s Junior Ore, both 15, stepped onto the Grandstand Court at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, it was to play a doubles match in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

Receiving a wild card berth in their hometown stop on the ATP Tour was a surprise bonus for their runner-up finish in the doubles of the USTA National Boys 16s last weekend at Kalamazoo, Mich.

Then the hard part — they had to play. In a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Argentine veterans Lucas Arnold Ker, 33, and Eduaro Schwank, 22, Kudla and Ore showed both their ability and inexperience.

On the first two points of the match, the left-handed Ore fired a powerful service winner, then whiffed a volley.

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And so it went as the locals, both home-schooled and products of the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, treated a spirited crowd of friends and local fans to a short, but sweet Legg Mason debut.

“We didn’t really know what to expect,” said Kudla, also the national runner-up in the boys 16s singles. “But I think we thought we could do a better than that. It was a little overwhelming. We’re better players than we showed. I think we tried to do too much.”

Devvarman wins

Despite playing his fourth match in three days, weekend qualifier Somdev Devvarman was better equipped to go three sets Monday than veteran Taylor Dent. After all, Dent, 27, is easing his way back on the tour after undergoing back surgery in March of 2007.

So after his 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-1 victory, Devvarman, a two-time NCAA champion and a recent graduate of Virginia, looked forward to a day off. He will play the winner of today’s match between Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and American Robert Kendrick.

Devvarman, a baseliner, overcame the serve-and-volley specialist with precise passing shots. On anything resembling a rally, Devvarman had the advantage.

“He likes to hit the higher, deeper, slower balls, and not really give his opponent any type of pace,” said Dent. “For playing a guy like me right now who’s just coming back, it’s a great strategy. He’s not going to make a lot of errors and I’m gonna get tired.”

In other Monday action, fourth-seeded Tommy Haas defeated qualifier Rik DeVoest, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.