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Atlanta — The first stop of Mardy Fish’s farewell tour ended quickly with a 6-4, 6-4 first-round loss to Israel’s Dudi Sela in the Atlanta Open on Tuesday.

Fish said it was a success just to play only his second competitive match of the year. He recently announced he will retire after the US Open, and he also disclosed details of his battles with anxiety disorder.

Fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus earlier downed America’s Austin Krajicek 6-4, 6-0, while No 6 seed Steve Johnson of the United States ground out a 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2 victory over Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.

In other first-round matches, Benjamin Becker beat fellow German Michael Berrer, who retired at the start of the second set while trailing 7-5, Denis Kudla came back to beat fellow-American Ryan Harrison 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), Australia’s Sam Groth defeated American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (3), 6-4 and Jared Donaldson of the United States had a hard-fought 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win over India’s Somdev Devvarman.

Fish, who won the Atlanta tournament in 2010 and 2011, also will play doubles this week with his friend Andy Roddick, who is taking a break from his retirement.

The 33-year-old Fish says he wished he could have played better but added “It’s just nice to finish on my own terms.”

Fish also plans to play in Cincinnati before the US Open.

Meanwhile, top seed Rafael Nadal bidding to rediscover some semblance of his former all-conquering form recovered from losing the first set to beat fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 and reach the second round of Hamburg’s ATP tournament on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old former world number one, who has slipped to 10 in the rankings after a run of poor results, struggled in the first set but recovered to take the second before earning a critical break in the decider for a 2-1 lead.

He saved all four break points he faced in the final set to eventually clinch victory and set up a second-round clash with the winner of the Jiri Vesely and Andreas Haider-Maurer match.

Nadal, who has had a tortuous year in which he lost his French Open title and went out in the second round of Wimbledon, is making his first appearance in Hamburg since winning the tournament in 2008 when he beat long-time rival Roger Federer.— News24.