Chang advances to second round at Legg Mason

Agencies, Washington

America's Michael Chang, who hasn't won a tournament since 2000, beat Britain's Martin Lee 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 Monday to advance to the second round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic here.

The 30-year-old Chang jumped to a 3-0 lead in just 11 minutes, but Lee fought back to tie it at 4-4. Chang then broke Lee's serve to take the first set.

"I'm just trying to change things around a little bit," Chang said. "I had my opportunities, and I'm not getting any younger, so I might as well go for them. You've got to take it to these guys."

Chang trailed 4-0 in the second set and rallied to pull within 5-4, but Lee served out the set, finishing with an ace up the middle.

"I think the second set I lost my way a little bit. I hit a patch where I was making quite a few errors, but Martin started to play better in the second set, too," Chang said. "I think it was good that toward the end of the second set I actually had an opportunity to get back into the set. I think that helped me going into the third."

Chang broke Lee's serve in the sixth game of the third set to coast to the win.

Jerome Golmard of France overcame a shoulder injury to beat 11th-seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-4.

"I was upset when I saw the draw," Golmard said. "I was upset to play Gambill in the first round, but now I'm upset about my shoulder.

Golmard, playing in his first tournament since Wimbledon, appeared to be going through the motions in the second set, even calling for the trainer before the start of the third.

"I've practiced very hard this six weeks to get better," the Frenchman said. "But I won so the pain is less."

Spanish No. 12 seed Fernando Vicente squandered a 4-0 second- set lead before advancing to the second round with a 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2 win over Olivier Rochus of Belgium.

After breaking Rochus' serve to close out the first set, Vicente sped to a 4-0 lead in the second. However, Rochus went on to win four straight games.

Vicente threw his racket into the fence during the 4-3 changeover.

In other early round play, Cedric Pioline of France beat Andreas Vinciguerra of Sweden 6-4, 6-3; No. 16 Fernando Meligeni of Brazil beat Japan's Takao Suzuki 6-4, 7-6 (1); Israeli Noam Okun will play America's Andre Agassi tomorrow after defeating America's Paul Goldstein 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4); Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand beat Italy's Andrea Gaudenzi 7-6 (5), 6-2; Slovakia's Karol Kucera advanced with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over American Cecil Mamit; Brazilian Alxandre Simoni beat Anthony Dupuis of France 6- 3, 6-2; and Hungary 's Atilla Savolt defeated Russia's Andrei Stoliarov 3-6, 7-6 (0), 6-3.

In Indiana, Germany's Rainer Schuettler held off an erratic Mark Philippoussis to reach the second round of the Indianapolis Open with a 7-6 7-6 victory on Monday.

Philippoussis had his opportunities against the ninth seeded German breaking to lead 5-4 in the second but he made far too many unforced errors, often blasting the ball instead of waiting for his opening.

"I made too many unforced errors, and it's a shame because the atmosphere was great out there," said Philippoussis.

"It was weird. I could not really find the court on my groundstrokes. I was everywhere and I was coming in to just try and make something work."

In other matches involving seeded players, only Croatia's 12th seeded Ivan Ljubicic failed to advance, losing to Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands 6-4 6-4.

Romanian 11th seed Andrei Pavel was tested by American Jeff Morrison, before he took control in the third set by sweeping the first four games on his way to a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory while 13th seed Michel Kratochvil, 14th seed Greg Rusedski and 16th seed Fabrice Santoro all cruised to first round victories.

Kratochvil overwhelmed qualifier Emin Agaev of Azerbaijan 6-0 6-2, Rusedski won a close battle with Albert Montanes 7-6 6-4, and Santoro eased past Israel's Harel Levy 6-2 6-2.

Rusedski, who could meet top seed and world number one Lleyton Hewitt in the third round, raised his game at the crucial stages to overcome his Spanish opponent.

The first set went with serve before Rusedski found himself down 3-0 in the tiebreak. After pulling level he launched himself at the net at 5-4 to force an error from Montanes to earn two set points.

In the second set, a blistering return down the line off a second serve earned him the only break of the match and a 4-3 lead that he held on to.

"I felt like I was serving very well in the first set, but I was missing some forehands," said Rusedski. "In the second set I just started to get into the ball and get a little bit of range."

In other matches, Magnus Norman earned a meeting with third seed Tommy Haas by edging past young American Robby Ginepri, while Alberto Martin outlasted Magnus Larsson in a 6-7 7-5 6-3 win.