Australia's Lleyton Hewitt saved two match points in the second set and rallied to beat Sweden's Robin Soderling 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 on Tuesday to advance at the ATP Cincinnati Masters.
Hewitt reached the second round of the three million-dollar hardcourt tournament, where he will face Germany's Benjamin Becker.
Italy's Andreas Seppi booked a place in the second round opposite Spain's Rafael Nadal with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 comeback triumph over Czech Jan Hernych.
Russia's Mikhail Youzhny defeated Romania's Victor Hanescu 7-5, 6-2 to reach a second-round match against Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who ousted 11th-seeded countryman Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4).
Austrian Jurgen Melzer outlasted Spain's Feliciano Lopez 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) to reach a second-round match with French lucky loser Julien Benneteau.