Dolgopolov advances at Washington tennis

Alexandr Dolgopolov and Tommy Haas sprang quickly into action at the Washington Open after a thunderstorm delayed the start of play, with both advancing into the second round with ease. Top seed Mardy Fish was waiting to make his start as he played German Bjorn Phau. Second seeded Dolgopolov, who is missing the London Olympics due to a conflict with his federation, put out Italian Flavio Cipolla 6-1, 6-3, a match which began with an hour's delay due to the weather. The Ukrainian was making his Washington debut and had lost two of three previous matches with Cipolla. Dolgopolov won in 59 minutes without facing a break point. Veteran Haas, a former number two who has lifted his ranking back to 36th after recovery from hip surgery, made his return to the hardcourts for the first time since last March and came up a 6-4, 6-2 winner over fellow 34-year-old Michael Russell. The German who reached a clay final this month in Hamburg is playing this week instead of London after not being given a nomination as a wild card by German tennis bosses. Haas has played at least semi-finals in three of his last six ATP events, including his first title in three years at Halle, Germany, on grass in June. "I'm happy with how I played today," said the winner. "This was my first hardcourt event since Miami (March). I respect Michael a lot. He's my age and has been playing well. "It took me some time to regain confidence after surgery, but now I know that I can compete with the guys again. I'm really starting to believe in my chances again," said Haas. The winner of 19 career titles improved to 20-9 on the season and next plays Argentine Leonard Mayer. Elsewhere, last week's Los Angeles semi-finalist Xavier Malisse rallied past Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, while Spain's Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo put out Australian Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-2. Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli, a childhood friend of Roger Federer, battled to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 7-5, 7-5 to reach a second round for the first time since February. In women's play at the new combined event, top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia won her opener against Serb Bojana Jovanovski 6-4, 6-3.