American Taylor Dent earned a win in his first match as a father, defeating countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-4, 7-6(2) in first-round action Monday at the SAP Open, an ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tournament in San Jose.

The 28-year-old Dent, who celebrated the birth of son Declan during the Australian Open fortnight, recovered a break with Bogomolov serving for the second set at 5-4 and stepped up in the tie-break to secure the win in one hour and 32 minutes.

Dent is one of the four candidates for 2009 ATP Comeback Player of the Year, following a phenomenal effort last season that saw him climb more than 800 ranking positions. The former World No. 21 had spent nearly three years sidelined with back injuries.

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DEUCE Magazine: At 28, A New Beginning For Dent

Fifth seed Tomas Berdych seemed poised for a straightforward victory on his San Jose debut, dropping just one game in the opening set, before American Wayne Odesnik tenaciously fought back. Though Berdych saved all four break points faced on serve, Odesnik succeeded in pushing the match to a decisive set.

World No. 23 Berdych held a break point chance to make it 5-3 in the third set, but was denied a chance to serve out the match as Odesnik held. Though Odesnik managed to fight off two more break points in the 12th game, Berdych finally converted on his third match point opportunity to secure the win in two hours and 27 minutes.

"I got some break point chances in the last game and finally converted," said Berdych. "He was playing really well from the second set on and it was a tough match. I am happy to get through it."

The 24 year old said about his experience of playing at the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, "This is the first time I'm playing here and I really like hockey and I have great memories of playing in hockey arenas. There's not a lot of arenas like here and it's a nice change to play in one. It's really a nice atmosphere."

Berdych next faces Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who rallied past German wild card Lars Poerschke 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 as he went three for 13 on break point chances. The Czech has a perfect 3-0 record against the former World No. 13, most recently defeating him in 2008 at the Rogers Cup.

Argentine Leonardo Mayer set up a potential second-round clash with top seed and three-time San Jose champion Andy Roddick after posting a 7-5, 6-4 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Roddick plays American qualifier Ryler Deheart in his opener.

In other matches, Israeli Dudi Sela edged Colombian Santiago Giraldo 7-6(2), 7-6(4) and Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin dispatched 17-year-old American wild card Ryan Harrison 6-2, 7-5.