Legg Mason Day 4: Seeds Survive Scares ('Cept Cilic)

WASHINGTON--Tuesday was the first say of action for any seeds in the draw of the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, and it wasn't an easy opener for any of them.

Here are thoughts from the four matches involving seeds (plus a few bonus remaining first round matches)

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) [2] def. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 -- Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro showed up to thisl late night match rusty, and Lu took advantage early.  del Potro played for Argentina in their Davis Cup loss to the Czech Republic, Lu was effectively bringing the less than graceful 6'6'' del Potro in toward the net where he is much less comfortable, and hitting passing shots with some ease.  But around 3-3 in the second Lu seemed to tighten and reeled in his shots, and del Potro took advantage, finally finding the explosive power that had been missing.  During this stretch last year del Potro won four straight tournaments (Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Los Angeles, Washington), but the only one he's even attempting to defend is Washington.  He said after the match he didn't feel any extra pressure because of this...but he should be.

Somdev Devvarman (IND) [Q] def. Marin Cilic (CRO) [6] 7-5, 6-4 -- In his first tournament since Wimbledon (though he too played Davis Cup), Marin Cilic looked even flatter than del Potro.  Devvarman was able to hang in points long enough to wait out the inevitable Cilic error enough to get four breaks in the match.  Devvarman actually blew his first chance serving out the set in each set, blowing 5-4 in the first (but then breaking right back), and 5-2 in the second.  Stuck in the tunnel waiting for changeovers, I wound up watching a fair amount of this match standing next to Sam Querrey and John Isner, the latter of whom lost to Devvarman in the NCAA finals. Between giggling over text messages, both marveled at how many balls Devvarman was able to get back.  He's in Roddick's quarter and faces Karlovic next so he's got his work cut out for him, but Devvarman's already exceeded all expectations.

Tomas Berdych (CZE) [8] def. Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 6-2, 7-6(6) -- Gulbis came out shaky in the first, but this turned into a real nice looking, high quality match by the second set.  Both were hitting hard from the baseline, but mixed in a fair amount of creativity and approaches.  Berdych eventually prevailed in a close tiebreak, keeping Gulbis from reaching his first third round of the year, an astonishing drought for a player of his caliber.

Tommy Haas (GER) [10] def. Frank Dancevic (CAN) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 -- Haas started incredibly strong in the first set, but Dancevic found his form in the second, using some flashy shotmaking to take the second and continue strong into the third.  But the veteran was able to cool off the Canadian's hot streak with a timely smashing of his racquet before Dancevic's break point at 1-2 in the third, with Haas slowly sauntering to his chair for a new racquet. I asked Haas about this tactic after the match, and he denied that he did it intentionally to interrupt Dancevic's momentum.  I'm not sure which of us believed what he was saying less.

Benjamin Becker (GER) def. Robby Ginepri (USA) 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 7-6(4) -- Even though neither is known for being a towering server like others in this draw (including Roddick, Querrey, Karlovic and Isner), this match was all about aces.  Neither was able to get a good read on the other's serve, which made for a long match filled with short points.  Ginepri was up a mini-break at 4-3 in the breaker but choked, throwing in some bad unforced errors a double fault on his way to losing the next four points and the match.

Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) def. Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) [LL] 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-0 -- In a battle of veterans, Juan Carlos Ferrero was able to stay strong throughout the long match, despite playing in the finals of Umag in Croatia only two days before.  It was also an impressive switch from two weeks of clay to hard court.