Taylor Dent won the battle of the big hitters to move through to the second round of the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis with a 7-6(15), 6-1 victory over two-time champion Mark Philippoussis.

Dent, who hadn't won a match in 2003 (0-3) before arriving in Memphis, saved seven set points in the first set tie-break before winning it 17-15. It was the longest tie-break of the year so far, eclipsing the 15-13 tie-break that Richard Krajicek won against Radek Stepanek in Milan.

"It's been a while since I won a match, so it's nice," said Dent, who now goes on to play either Jan-Michael Gambill, the No. 5 seed, or Zelkjo Krajan in the second round. "It was one of those matches where the first set could have been the same as the second. I think it's the longest tie-break I've been in. But every win feels great.

"He's an incredibly tough player to beat. At one stage in the tie-break I think he aced me five points in a row, so that's no fun to play against.

Aces

After taking the opening set, the 21-year-old from Newport Beach, California lost just three points on his serve in the second, while serving nine aces during the match. Philippoussis, who lost to Andre Agassi in the second round in San Jose last week, served 13 of his 14 aces in the first set.

"I thought the tie-break was done when I was down 5-2 and two mini-breaks and I was a bit lucky to get back in," said Dent, who had lost all four of his tie-breaks i 2003. "I thought whatever happened in the tie-break, I was going to have to make sure I came out energetic and firing at the start of the second, because it's easy to have a let down whether you win or lose it, and that's what I did."

Philippoussis, who got an early break at the start of the match, added: "I was up 2-0 and I played a bad game. You've got to take advantage of those situations and you've got to put it away. When you get to the tie-break like that, there's a bit of luck involved. On those last couple of points he was playing better."

Positives

Despite the loss, the 1998 and 2001 winner looked at the positives. "I was hitting the ball well," said the Australian. "It's tough to get into a rhythm out there. He was serving pretty big. You have to get out there and play your own game and do what you can to win. It's tough to play a big serve like that.

"I'm feeling good. Every tournament I play I feel fitter and stronger. I know that my best tennis is ahead of me."