Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro extended his winning streak to 15 matches on Tuesday with a 6-2 6-3 victory over American wild card Jesse Levine in the first round of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.
Top seed and defending champion Andy Roddick also won in straight sets, dispatching Paraguay's Ramon Delgado 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
Before second seed Del Potro even took the court, he had seen the draw open up for him, with five of the top eight seeds having bowed out from the tournament, including three on Tuesday - third seed Feliciano Lopez, fifth seed Mardy Fish and sixth seed Marat Safin.
Del Potro came into this tournament having won his last three events played, securing his most recent trophy on Sunday in Los Angeles with a victory over ninth-ranked Roddick.
Roddick may not have to wait long to get a shot at redemption. The 25-time winner will only get a shot at Del Potro, however, if both players navigate their way to another championship match.
Also a winner here in 2001 and 2005, Roddick opted to skip the Olympic Games in Beijing to both defend his title here and prepare for the upcoming US Open.
American qualifier Robert Kendrick stunned Lopez 6-3 7-5 sending the Spaniard to his second consecutive first-round loss. Kendrick fired 13 aces in posting his first ATP circuit win this season.
Alejandro Falla of Colombia eliminated Fish 5-7 6-4 6-2, avenging a first-round loss to the American last week in Los Angeles. Falla, ranked number 122, posted his first victory over an American in six attempts.
Russia's Safin retired with a neck injury after losing the first set 7-5 to Italy's Fabio Fognini.
A former world number one, Safin has been unable to build on his semi-final performance at Wimbledon, dropping to a 4-5 mark since leaving the All England Club.