Fish and Stepanek through at Japan Open

Fourth-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States defeated fellow American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in their first-round match at the Japan Open on Monday.Fish relied on his serve and volley game to outlast his compatriot in a battle that took 2 hours, 44 minutes at Ariake Colosseum.It was a close match, Fish said. It could have gone either way. He played well.Fish was impressed by his 19-year-old opponent, who had to qualify for the main draw.Hes a strong player and I think he will be a top player in the future, he said.Earlier, seventh-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat Somdev Devvarman of India 6-4, 6-3 in their first-round match.Stepanek and Devvarman exchanged breaks in the first set before Stepanek broke the Indian again in the 10th game to take the set.Devvarman broke Stepanek in the opening game of the second set and moved out to a 3-1 lead, but Stepanek then reeled off five straight games to take the match in 1 hour, 32 minutes.Qualifier Matthew Ebden of Australia downed Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 in the days other first-round match.Top seed Rafael Nadal, the defending champion in the $1.2 million event, will take on wild card Go Soeda of Japan in his first-round match on Tuesday.