Can “Dr.” Ivo rain down the aces on clay? The nod goes to Croatia as Blake is 0-4 in live ties on clay and Fish has only one win in the same situation. Marin Cilic should dictate this tie, but the Bryan brothers will do their best to keep it a live tie by Sunday.

Seeds: 1. Mardy Fish, 2. Fabrice Santoro, 3. Sam Querrey, 4. Benjamin Becker, 5. Arnaud Clement, 6. Philipp Petzschner, 7. Kevin Kim, 8. Sergiy Stakhovsky

Other Top 10-seeded winners were (2) Roger Federer over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, (7) Fernando Verdasco defeating Kristof Vliegen in four, and (9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga receiving a walkover against Simone Bolelli.

“I didn’t feel comfortable at any moment in the match, so I was all the time playing behind and I tried to find my game,” said Safin. “I couldn’t do anything special so it was annoying to be there on the court and not be able to find the game, so basically I had to wait for his mistakes. It was a little bit absurd, so, it’s a disappointment but what can you do?”

“I don’t think I’ve played that well since San Jose (February),” Blake said. “I really felt like my old self out there, it’s the first time in a long time. Even if I don’t win another match here I’ll still feel good about my clay game. But I’m not ready to stop, I would really like to win this tournament.”

If Simon can get past American Robert Kendrick in his opener, he is looking at a possible second-round match up with wildcard and former French Open winner Gaston Gaudio. Russian Nikolay Davydenko, if he advances to the second round, is looking at a potential match-up with unseeded former No. 1 and former French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

“He kind of forces you into that the way he plays defense,” Blake said. “It’s no excuse for some errors, especially the ones I made at key times.”

A bad day for the U.S. in Miami on Saturday as all five American men in action lose.

Ljubicic is more fit after his rededication to tennis, but this should be a walk-through for Murray.

In their opening round, Roddick-Fish beat the French squad of Chardy-Simon. Next up: the imposing Argentine squad of David Nalbandian and Juan Martin del Potro, a surprising partnership after their lockeroom blowout last year in the Davis Cup final.

Who doing what and where at Indian Wells? Sean Randall examines the men’s draw the Indian Wells Masters.

The second week of the interesting “Mexico Swing” on the new WTA Tour calendar, which is down time for most all of the top players who have taken the two weeks off to prepare for tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami.

“John McEnroe turns 50 tomorrow — it’s incredible how well this guy still plays,” Sampras said following the match. “I’m in awe of it actually. At 50, it’s amazing to move that well. It’s pretty incredible.” McEnroe beat Sampras last year en route to the Boston title. Todd Martin won the third-place match when Jim Courier pulled out with a bad back.

“I’ve been playing better throughout the weeks,” Serena told reporters regarding her form in Melbourne. “I think doubles was really able to help me out. And also I went out and hit a few balls this morning. I had a really good practice. Watching some of the men’s tennis, they were playing really well. I was really inspired like that. Especially last night’s [Nadal-Verdasco semifinal] match. It was just crazy.”

Serving at 4-5 in the fifth and past the five-hour mark, Verdasco was undone by nerves. Verdasco double faulted to give Nadal a 40-0 lead, then two points later double faulted on match point.