<p>The 21-year-old, sidelined since May by a hamstring injury he suffered at the French Open, battled past Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 7-5, 7-5 in the opening round at the LA Tennis Center. <br /><br />“I didn't care how I played,” Gulbis told reporters after firing down 11 aces on the hardcourt surface. “It was a tough win because I didn't feel the ball really well. <br /><br />The Latvian, the youngest player in the draw, will next face either Colombian Alejandro Falla or Slovakia's Karol Beck. <br /><br />Germany's Rainer Schuettler advanced when seventh seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina retired because of an injured left shoulder when trailing 6-3, 3-0. <br /><br />In other matches, sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic crushed Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-0 and Israel's Dudi Sela won a see-saw encounter against Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. <br /><br />British world number four Andy Murray is the top seed for this week's $ 619,500 event with defending champion Sam Querrey of the US seeded second, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis third and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez fourth. <br /><br />The top four seeds all get byes into the second round.<br /><br />Somdev in main draw <br /><br />Somdev Devvarman scored a straight set win over Ecuador’s Giovanni Lapentti to qualify for the singles event of the USD 619,500 Farmers Classic , adds PTI from Los Angeles.<br /><br />The third seed Indian beat his unseeded rival 6-2, 6-4 in the third and final round match of the qualifiers. His first-round opponent in the main draw is a local qualifier Steve Johnson.</p>
<p>The 21-year-old, sidelined since May by a hamstring injury he suffered at the French Open, battled past Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 7-5, 7-5 in the opening round at the LA Tennis Center. <br /><br />“I didn't care how I played,” Gulbis told reporters after firing down 11 aces on the hardcourt surface. “It was a tough win because I didn't feel the ball really well. <br /><br />The Latvian, the youngest player in the draw, will next face either Colombian Alejandro Falla or Slovakia's Karol Beck. <br /><br />Germany's Rainer Schuettler advanced when seventh seed Horacio Zeballos of Argentina retired because of an injured left shoulder when trailing 6-3, 3-0. <br /><br />In other matches, sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic crushed Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-1, 6-0 and Israel's Dudi Sela won a see-saw encounter against Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. <br /><br />British world number four Andy Murray is the top seed for this week's $ 619,500 event with defending champion Sam Querrey of the US seeded second, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis third and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez fourth. <br /><br />The top four seeds all get byes into the second round.<br /><br />Somdev in main draw <br /><br />Somdev Devvarman scored a straight set win over Ecuador’s Giovanni Lapentti to qualify for the singles event of the USD 619,500 Farmers Classic , adds PTI from Los Angeles.<br /><br />The third seed Indian beat his unseeded rival 6-2, 6-4 in the third and final round match of the qualifiers. His first-round opponent in the main draw is a local qualifier Steve Johnson.</p>
