MOSCOW (AFP) - Fifth seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia fought back from a set down to beat Switzerland's Marc Rosset to grab a place in the second round of the 2.3 million dollar ATP Kremlin Cup.
Youzhny, who is seeking his second career title here, won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 1hr 33min to level his head-to-head record with Rosset at 1-1.
Rosset, who had to qualify for the main draw, broke early in the opening set for a 3-1 lead, the 33-year-o;d veteran going on to wrap up the set in 34 minutes.
But Youzhny, 22, took the second after 1hr 08min on court, breaking Rosset's serve in the eighth game.
In the decider Rosset, the longstanding local crowd favourite as the only player to take part in all 15 tournaments here, ran out of gas, allowing Youzhny to break twice to a commanding 4-0 lead, minutes before he won the set and the match.
"This win is very important for me. I'm happy to win the opening round match as I did not play well here in recent years," Youzhny said.
"I don't like to play in Moscow, it's very tough, the toughest tournament in the whole year."
"I still failed to perform at my top level today but I hope to improve my playing here match by match," he added.
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty, seeded third, also earned his second round pass, beating Swede Thomas Johansson to record his fifth win 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in their seventh head-to-head meeting.
In the WTA section fifth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia advanced into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win in 1hr 5min over Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.
The Russian 22-year-old started the match at full confidence, breaking her rival twice to gain a commanding 4-0 lead before Schnyder chalked on board her first point.
Dementieva, who turns 23 on Friday, kept her advantage to take the first set in 26 minutes.
No big serves were produced in the second set until the seventh game, when Dementieva stepped up a gear and made another couple of breaks, to underline her domination at Moscow's Olympic indoor stadium.
Sixth seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia barely broke sweat against France's Nathalie Dechy to win 6-0, 6-2 in 52 minutes. She next faces in a clash for a place in the quarter-finals Croatia's Karolina Sprem, who saw off Anna Smashnova of Israel 6-1, 6-3.
The former world number one Venus Williams of the United States, seventh seed here, cruised into the next round when beating Russia's Alina Jidkova 6-4, 6-4. This was her first match since she lost the US Open fourth round tie to Lindsay Davenport last month.
In the second round she meets Russia's wildcard Vera Douchevina.