Gambill ousts defender Dent in Memphis

MEMPHIS, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Jan-Michael Gambill posted a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory over defending champion Taylor Dent in the first round of the Kroger St. Jude hardcourt event.

Thanks to three breaks of serve, Gambill needed only 77 minutes to post the victory, his third in four tries over the last two tournaments. He had dropped three of his first four matches to open the season.

Gambill, 26, said relaxing helped him win for the first time in three career meetings with Dent, who took the first five sets between the two, including a victory at Wimbledon in 2002 and a triumph in Memphis last season.

Dent, the sixth seed, claimed one of his three titles of 2004 at this event, but ended up with a difficult first-round match in his defense.

The other two men's seeds in action Tuesday advanced with wins over Americans as No. 7 Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Bob Bryan, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3, and No. 8 Nicolas Kiefer of Germany downed Eric Taino, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.