IANS

Washington, Aug 4: India's Somdev Devvarman is through to the second round in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, beating fellow qualifier Yuichi Sugita 6-0, 7-6 (6).

Qualifying for the second successive ATP Tour event, Somdev breezed through the first set against the 255th ranked Japanese Tour debutant, but encountered a tenacious Sugita in the second.

Sugita forced a tie-break which the Indian clinched 8-6.

Playing in a tough field, Somdev next takes on sixth-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic who got a first-round bye.

Unseeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt, playing his first match since Wimbledon, advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-2 win over American wild card Donald Young in a match that featured nine breaks of serve.

Hewitt said that he was happy to make a winning start to his US Open Series campaign at the ATP World Tour 500 hard-court tennis tournament. Hewitt, who is No. 42 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, has a chance to press his claim for a Top 20 spot this summer after missing the entire US hard court swing last year following a hip surgery.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny won on his Washington debut as he defeated American Robert Kendrick 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, while Yen-hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei battled past American wild card Michael Russell 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 to set up a second-round clash with defending champion and No. 2 seed Juan Martin del Potro.

In another first-round match, German Phillip Petzschner rallied past Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvilli 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.