Briefs: Haas, Phau, Becker advance at San Jose

By 

Daily News Staff Writer

SAN JOSE — Tommy Haas remembers when his first-round opponent, wild-card Devin Britton, was a ballboy. Then he watched him develop into a professional player. Now he's playing against him.

Haas needed a tiebreaker to beat Britton 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the SAP Open at San Jose's HP Pavilion on Tuesday.

Haas remembered Britton as a youth and was on hand for his first professional match against Roger Federer at the U.S. Open.

Britton, who played in his third career main draw singles match on the ATP tour, became the youngest player to win the NCAA championship last May as a freshman at Mississippi.

Bjorn Phau of Germany beat No. 8 Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 6-1.

American Michael Russell, who played in his first professional tournament two years ago when he was 15, beat lucky loser Kyu Tae Im of Korea 7-6 (8), 6-1.

No. 7 seed Sam Querry took care of Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-3, 6-2; teenager Ricardas Berankis, the former No. 1 junior in the world, beat American Robby Ginepri 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3; Benjamin Becker topped Tim Smyczek, 6-4, 6-2; and Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Rajeev Ram 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-3.

American Mardy Fish withdrew from his singles match because of a left knee injury, but plans to remain in the doubles draw with Sam Querry. The duo won their first doubles match Monday and don't play again until Thursday.

Fish, a two-time finalist here, had September surgery on the knee and was able to compete in the Australian Open.

"For whatever reason, the knee is not where it needs to be and not 100 percent," Fish said in a statement. "It's frustrating because I've always played well here. I want to be healthy and I've put a lot of work in to get ready."

Top-seeded Andy Roddick meets qualifier Ryler DeHeart in his first match today.

DOUBLES RESULTS (first round): Benjamin Becker, Germany, and Leonardo Mayer, Argentina, def. Scott Lipsky and David Martin, United States, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 12-10; Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, and Dudi Sela, Israel, def. Jeremy Chardy, France, and Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, 6-3, 3-6, 10-8; Johan Brunstrom, Sweden, and Jean-Julien Rojer (3), Netherlands Antilles, def. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, and Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 7-6 (2), 6-2; Bob and Mike Bryan (1), United States, def. Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski, Britain, 6-2, 6-4.

Meulman avenges loss to No. 1

St. Francis wrestler Drew Meulman avenged his only loss of the season by defeating College Park's Ory Elor 3-2 Saturday to win the Mission San Jose tournament heavyweight title.

Meulman fought off a late takedown attempt by Elor and came around from behind to score the deciding takedown in the final seconds of the match.

Elor entered the match ranked No. 1 in California, with Meulman No. 2.

Elsewhere

 Strong wind and rough seas kept Alinghi and BMW Oracle from training the day before the first race of their America's Cup showdown pitting the fastest sailboats ever built.

 Mountain View needs two assistant track coaches immediately. Experience with jumpers, sprinters and/or hurdlers desired. Positions open immediately. Contact Athletic Director Rob Friedrich by e-mail atrobert.friedrich@mvla.net.

 The Notre Dame de Namur University women's tennis team dropped 8-1 decision to Santa Rosa at Canada College in Redwood City. Top-seeded Rebecca Corteza earned the Argonauts' only win, 6-0, 6-1. NDNU opened its season Friday, losing 9-0 to Academy of Art of San Francisco at Canada College. The Argos lost 86 of 96 games in the nine matches.