Pete Sampras/AP Photo by George Nikitin
On the first evening of compeition the SAP Open tennis tournament at HP Pavilion in San Jose, a match that did not count was more of an attraction than the ones that did.
It was the exhibition match between 14-time Grand Slam simgles champion Pete Sampras and Fernandon Verdasco, the No. 2 seed in the SAP Open, that was the headline event on Monday
Verdasco beat the 38-year-old Sampras 6-3, 7-6 (2), but it hardly mattered to the crowd.
It hardly mattered to Verdasco either, because he had always regretted the fact that he had not had a chance to play Sampras while he was on the pro tour. Verdasco said he has watched the 1995 Australian Open finals between Sampras and Andre Agassi about a hundred times.
The exhibition match lasted just 57 minutes, and although Sampras fired three more aces than Verdasco, he never held a break-point opportunity against his 26-year-old opponent.
"He's still serving so good, of course," Verdasco said later, "He's not, at the moment, in the shape he was as a professional, but that is natural."
Later, in the first featured match of the actual tournament, fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych had to go three sets before eliminating Wayne Odesnik 6-1, 6-7 (5), 7-5. Berdych's next match will be against Jarkko Nieminen, a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner over Lars Poerschke.
In other first-round matches on Monday, Taylor Dent continued his long comeback from back problems by beating Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-4, 7-6, and Leonardo Mayer beat Ernests Gulbis 7-5, 6-4.
Also, Dudi Sela eliminated Santiago Giraldo 7-6, 7-6, and Denis Istomin defeated 17-year-old Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-5.
Verdasco and top-seeded Andy Roddick both play their first singles matches on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, at approximately 11 a.m., eighth-seeded Jeremy Chardy will play his first-round match against Bjorn Phau.
Sometime Tuesday afternoon, No. 6 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber will play his first match of the tournament against Rajeev Ram.
In Tuesday's evening's featured matches, No. 4 seed Tommy Haas will take on Devin Britton, followed by a doubles match featuring the Bryan brothers, a pair of Stanford alums who are generally considered the best doubles team in the world.
In the final match Tuesday, seventh-seeded Sam Querrey, who was born in San Francisco, takes on Teimurez Gabasvili.
(See photos of seeded players here.)
See also:
HOW YOU CAN PLAY IN THE U.S. OPEN
BARBIE DOLL IN KIM CLIJSTERS LIKENESS
MEN'S TOUR EVENT OPENS MONDAY IN SAN JOSE
CAL WOMEN, STANFORD MEN ADVANCE TO NATIONAL INDOORS
RODDICK WINS TITLE AFTER 3 MONTHS OFF
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