Defending champion Taylor Dent suffered a first round exit at the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis as Jan-Michael Gambill came through the all-American clash 7-6(6), 6-3.

It was sweet revenge for Gambill, who lost to Dent in the second round in Memphis last year and at Wimbledon in 2002.

Gambill broke Dent's serve three times during the match before wrapping up victory in 1 hour, 17 minutes.

"It's always great to beat somebody you've had trouble with in the past," said Gambill. "I lost to him at Wimbledon in a not-so-close match, and here in two tie-breaks, so today, going into another tie-break, I pushed a forehand volley early on, and he did the same thing on set point. But I'm playing better tennis, I'm getting better with every match I play, I'm a lot more relaxed, which is something I've been working on."

From 2-2 in the first set, there were four consecutive breaks of serve before it went to the tie-break. Dent was up a mini-break at 4-2 and, despite double faulting, earned himself two set points at 6-4. But Gambill, who reached the semifinals in Memphis in 2002, hit a backhand winner on the first and punished a short forehand volley by Dent on the second to save both.

Opportunity

At 6-6, Gambill hit a good return at Dent's feet which the defending champion could only half volley into the sidelines, and Gambill converted his set point opportunity with a cross-court backhand winner as Dent approached the net.

In the second set, Gambill broke to lead 4-2 and, after three consecutive love service games of his own, held for a famous victory.

"I played a pretty solid game both sets. To break Taylor twice in a set is no mean feat. His plan was to chip his returns deep at my feet and when he's at the net he can pretty much do anything he wants up there.

"But in the second set, I was able to breathe more easily and get another break and I was really pleased to get through that set without facing any break points. I volleyed a lot better as well today, which is also something I've been working on."

Gambill, who is in the top half of the draw, will now meet either Milan winner Antony Dupuis or American wild card Brian Baker for a place in the quarterfinals.

A disappointed Dent said: "I was trying to recount why I lost my serve three times. In the first one, I think he basically hit three winner returns, or returns I was unable to control and then I hit a double fault. I don't know what's going on with me not being able to hold serve, is the bottom line. You look at Andy [Roddick], he lost his serve once during the whole week in San Jose, and I think that was the third game of the tournament. So it's something I'm working on. I think I know where the problems are and I'll have to work hard to iron them out. Unfortunately it's not something that comes overnight."

Quarterfinalist

Elsewhere on day two, Jurgen Melzer set up a second round meeting with eighth seed Nicolas Kiefer after defeating last year's semifinalist Brian Vahaly in straight sets, while Kiefer overcame American qualifier Eric Taino 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Dmitry Tursunov, the 21-year-old American-based Russian also reached the second round after a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Belgian Christophe Rochus. Tursunov, who advanced to the quarterfinals in Memphis in his first ATP main draw in 2001 as a qualifier, now meets South African veteran Wayne Ferreira, the 32-year-old who reached the Memphis final in 1992 (l. to Washington). Ferreira, the No. 7 seed, defeated American wild card Bob Bryan.