Stockholm, Oct 19: David Nalbandian dropped the first set before going on to beat Xavier Malisse of Belgium 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday.
The Argentine will next face Ivan Dodig of Croatia, who beat Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
South Africa's Kevin Anderson also needed tiebreakers to win against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4), and will face German veteran Tommy Haas in the second round.
Jarkko Nieminen, who reached the final of the competition in 2009, beat Marcus Copil of Romania 6-3, 7-6 (4) to set up a second round match-up with Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
James Blake of the United States beat Belgium's Olivier Rochus 7-6 (6), 6-3 and will face second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the second round.
Milos Raonic of Canada edged out Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-4 in the last match Tuesday.
