Danai Udomchoke survived two set points in the tie-break to beat American Robert Kendrick and advance to the group stages of the US$416,000 Tennis Channel Open at Darling Tennis Memorial Centre in Las Vegas on Monday.

The Thai qualifier was on the verge of losing twice in the second set, falling behind 5-6 and 6-7 in the tie-break but wriggled out of the tight situation to wrap up the match 6-4 7-6 (9-7) in the main draw elimination.

"I was a little lucky to win the second set," said Danai who now holds a 2-1 head-to-head record over Kendrik. "He missed his shots at those set points. But I was completely focussed during that crucial stage of the game."

In fact Danai could have finished off his towering opponent in an easier manner had he capitalised on several break point opportunities in the second set. But every time the door was ajar, the American put up a brave fight to hold his serve.

"I had 0-40 three times in the second set but he played really well at break points. He was serving well and got out of trouble," said Danai, who was drawn in Group 5 along with fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Paul-Henri Mathieu of France. The Spaniard has already picked up his first win by beating the Frenchman 3-6 6-3 7-5 in their first round robin match.

Danai lines up against Mathieu, who is currently No 64 in the ATP rankings. It will be the first encounter between the two.

"Paul is a bit more aggressive on his backhand than on his forehand. He has a powerful forehand but makes many errors. My plan is to make him play forehand shots," said Danai who will have to play his second round robin against Verdasco today. "Verdasco is a left-handed player who has big ground strokes and big serves. I have to break him down mentally to have any chance of beating him."

In the doubles first round, Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana lost to the Swedish duo of Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt 6-3 6-3.

No 6 Frenchman Julien Benneteau got off to a poor start in Group 2 as he was dominated by American Paul Goldstein 6-1 6-0.