Top seed Andy Roddick smashed his way into the second round of the San Jose Open on Wednesday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic.
The American, chasing his third title in San Jose in three years, hit top form after a tight first set to book a clash with compatriot Sam Querrey.
World number 92 Dancevic matched Roddick for much of the first set, but a bullet-like backhand return from the former US Open champion sealed the opener.
That lifted the top seed's confidence and his serve clicked into gear, ending with 13 aces.
"I was struggling a bit early on and I wasn't making many balls out there," Roddick said.
Roddick and Querrey, the six-foot-six wildcard entry, have practised together a lot in the past six months and the world number four said he expects a tough match.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he is in the top 30 or top 25 by the end of the year," he said. "I don't think there are going to be too many rallies. He serves from a tree."
Second seed James Blake made light work of Russian Igor Kunitsyn, winning 6-3, 6-2 to set up a clash with big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic.
Defending champion Andy Murray survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals with a 6-0, 6-7, 6-4 win over Dane Kristian Pless.
MURRAY RALLY
Pless, the world number 83, had two break points to lead 4-2 in the final set, but Murray rallied for victory to set up a meeting with seventh seed Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea or German Simon Greul.
After 27 minutes, the match looked as good as over as Murray left the Dane swatting returns in frustration.
Pless then went for broke and after trading early breaks, he took advantage of Murray's loss of concentration to snatch the set on a tiebreak, 7-5.
As Murray's frustration grew, the Dane led 3-2 and 40-15 on the Scot's serve in the decider but Murray saved them both and then broke in the next game, before holding on for victory.
"I got a bit frustrated at the start of the second set because he was basically tanking it at the end of the first, and then I was a bit cold as I hadn't hit the ball for a while," Murray said.
"I didn't play my best today but to give him credit, he played a really good second set - he started coming into the net and going for everything.
"These courts are so fast that it's difficult to come back when you are behind in sets. But considering I had only played about 55 minutes of tennis in the last three weeks, it was good to get the win."
Fifth seed Mardy Fish continued his good form as he crushed Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round.
The world number 25, who reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open last month, hit 11 aces as he raced through to a clash with fellow American Sam Warburg.
Spaniard Feliciano Lopez ousted Rainer Schuettler of Germany 7-6, 6-1 while there was better luck for another German, Benjamin Becker, who beat Serbian qualifier Dusan Vemic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
