Moscow, Oct 03: In the men's action, Dent, fresh from beating world no. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain to capture the inaugural Thailand Open on Sunday, has extended his winning streak to seven matches. On Tuesday, he marked his Kremlin Cup debut with upset of third-seeded Felix Mantilla of Spain in straight sets in just 46 minutes.
Dent opened strongly and broke the Belgian in the seventh game to go up 5-3 in the first set. He fired eight aces and had five service winners to win the set. But in the second set, Rochus put his feet back on the ground and found the way to challenge Dent's serve-and-volley game.
He trapped the American with passing crosscourt shots to break him in the second game and jump to a commanding 5-2 lead in the set. A backhand down the line the eighth game earned him two break points. Dent double faulted, forcing the third set.
"He (Rochus) came out a bit tentative and it was not looking for a good set for either of us. He started to pass me all the time in the second set," said Dent.
Dent broke Rochus in the third game of the decisive set to take an early lead and never looked back, closing his next two service games at love and firing three more aces.



"Sometimes it's nice to win when you are not playing your best tennis. It feels good and I just want to keep it going," said Dent.



Dent is looking for his third title this season. He beat countryman Andy Roddick in February to take the St. Jude Classic final in Memphis.



Sargis Sargsian of Armenia upset eight-seeded Russian veteran and five-time champion here Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4 2-6 6-4.



In the quarterfinals, he will face second-seeded Agustin Calleri of Argentina, who struggled past Georgia's Irakli Labadze 6-4 3-6 6-1.


Bureau Report