Houston, April 13:

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus rallied in the second set to beat Jesse Witten of the US 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the first round of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Top-seeded Andy Roddick had little trouble in defeating Oliver Maranch of Austria 6-3, 6-4 in a second round match. He’ll face former champion Tommy Haas of Germany in quarter-finals. Fifth-seeded Haas was down 5-2 in the second set but charged back to a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over countryman Alexander Waske.

Baghdatis was down 2-5 in the second set when he finally gave his vocal fans something to cheer. Baghdatis held serve in the eighth game and broke Witten in the ninth when Witten drove a forehand into the net. That brought Baghdatis’ fans to their feet, sensing the comeback. The two players then served out to force the tiebreaker. Baghdatis won the final four points and won the match at the first match point on Witten’s errant service return.

Baghdatis had a tough time to start the second set. He lost 12 of the first 13 points. Witten closed out a love third game with an ace for a 3-0 lead. Baghdatis held in the sixth game after surviving two break points.