Fish heads into second round in Tokyo

Fourth-seeded Mardy Fish was pushed to a third set before he claimed a first-round win Monday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. Fish, No. 8 in the world, needed 2 hours, 44 minutes to get by No. 80-ranked Ryan Harrison 6-4, 3-6, 7-5. It is the third time this year Fish beat Harrison. He also had a three-setter versus Harrison in Los Angeles. Harrison had Fish on the defensive often, piling up 15 break points. However, Fish fought off all but four. He had two of his four breaks of Harrison's serve in the third set. No. 7-seeded Radek Stepanek defeated Somdev Devvarman 6-4, 6-3 with four breaks over Devvarman's nine service games. Stepanek will go against qualifier Marco Chiudinelli in the second round. Chiudinelli was a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 winner over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his match Monday. Matthew Ebden, another qualifier, also advanced out of the first round. Ebden got past Pablo Andujar 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, dropping serve just once. The Japan Open draw features four Top 10 players, including world No. 2 and defending champion Rafael Nadal.