By Ralph Hayden
The SAP Open is not proving lucky for seeded players as three seeded players have already crashed out of the tournament and James Blake was eliminated yesterday. But top-seeded Fernando Verdasco is still in the race after registering a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Rajeev Ram in the marquee match yesterday. Second-seeded Gael Monfils followed Verdasco as he defeated Stanford's Bradley Klahn 6-3, 6-2.

Verdasco is the defending champion. He defeated Ram in just 1 hour, 1 minute. Talking to reporters, after the match, Verdasco said that he was feeling happy after returning to the city that has embraced him during his two years at the tournament. "I feel comfortable here. There are so many Spanish-speaking people here, and so many Latin people, so when they see a Spanish player, I think they feel like I'm their countryman," said the Spanish player.

Verdasco made many fans last year after defeating Andy Roddick in the final. It seems that Verdasco would repeat history this time also and he is on course of defending his title. A victory at the SAP Open will definitely prove s to be the perfect jump-start for Verdasco's season. Verdasco is ranked ninth in the world and his season started on a low note as he was knocked out of the Brisbane Open in the first round. He crashed out of the Australian Open in the Round of 16.

Verdasco will now face 6-foot-10 Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who defeated Ryan Sweeting 6-4, 6-4 in his first-round match. "He's one of the most difficult players to play," Verdasco said. "He's a player you prefer not to play against. You just hope that he doesn't serve well."