US top seed Mardy Fish withdrew and fourth seed Benjamin Becker of Germany was knocked out on Monday during the first day of the $500 000 ATP Hall of Fame Championships.

Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick withdrew from this week's US Davis Cup quarterfinal tie at Croatia, prompting Fish to be called upon to replace him and thus skip the final grass-court tournament of the season.

American Brendan Evans pulled the first upset of the event by eliminating Becker 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-5. Evans will next face countryman Robby Ginepri, who defeated Spain's Santiago Ventura 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

The early exits left Germany's Philipp Petzschner, the sixth seed, as the top-ranked player in his half of the draw at 55th in the world.

The event's remaining highest seeds are defending champion Fabrice Santoro, the 36-year-old French second seed seeking an unprecedented third consecutive Newport title, and number three Sam Querrey of the United States.

Santoro, who did not drop a set in last year's title run, opens against Italy's Flavio Cipolla and faces a possible second-round match against US wild card Taylor Dent, who defeated Brazil's Marcos Daniel 6-2, 6-1.

Indian wild card Prakash Amritraj opened with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Thailand's Danai Udomchoke. Amritraj could face Querrey in the second round.

AFP

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