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US third seed Sam Querrey fired 11 aces in a first-round victory over Frenchman Arnaud Clement, proving a competent fill-in for Andy Roddick at the ATP Indianapolis Championships.

The 6-3 6-4 victory in 73 minutes put Querrey alongside seventh-seeded Marc Gicquel of France and number eight Uzbek Denis Istomin in reaching the second round at the $450,000 hard-court tournament.

Gicquel drove another spike into the heart of a losing season for once-promising Ernests Gulbis, hammering the Latvian 6-2 6-3, while Istomin staged a comeback to eliminate American Kevin Kim 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Gulbis, a childhood Munich tennis academy friend of world number four Novak Djokovic, has gone badly off the boil this season, losing for the eighth time this year in a first round.

The 20-year-old Latvian was playing for the first time in nearly a month after going out in the Wimbledon second round to another ex-junior rival, Britain's Andy Murray.

Gulbis stands a miserable 10-18 on the season and has not won two matches in a row since Cincinnati last August when he reached the quarter-finals against Djokovic.

Querrey, ranked 37th and a losing finalist just over a week ago on grass in Newport to Indiana's Rajeev Ram, won his way into a re-match against the local hero.

Ram claimed the first title of his career with his upset of Querrey in the recent final in Rhode Island.

"It's great to get another shot at Ram," Querrey said. "He's confident and he's won seven out of his last eight matches if you count Newport qualifying. He plays well and has talent at the net.

"It will be a tough one for me. We may be playing in his hometown, but I have a decent support group of my own."

Querrey, a two-time Indianapolis semi-finalist, is the highest-ranking American in the field after Wimbledon finalist Roddick withdrew due to the hip flexor injury which bothered him during his All-England club loss to Roger Federer a fortnight ago.

"Maybe the sport spotlight is on me a bit but I don't mind at all," said Querrey. "Of course it would be better if Andy, James (Blake), Mardy (Fish) and the Bryan brothers were here. But they have other things going on."

Querrey's friend and compatriot John Isner, playing only his second match since early May after suffering glandular fever, took a 6-1 7-6 (6) victory over France's Josselin Ouanna.

Canada's Frank Dancevic, the 2007 Indy runner-up, started with a 6-2 7-6 (5) first-round triumph over Bobby Reynolds, winning his first match in the rivalry after losing to the American.

ATP Indianapolis: The final LIVE on Sunday 26th July 10pm on British Eurosport Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to

AFP