October 25, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1427

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LYON, Oct 24: Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean tamed compatriot Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 7-6 to reach the second round of the Lyon indoor tournament on Monday.

Sixth seed Grosjean's consistent baseline play meant he overcame Mathieu's challenge in one hour and 39 minutes.

“The surface proved faster than in Vienna and in Madrid and it suited me,” Grosjean said.

The Marseille player will take on a qualifier in his next match as he faces the winner tie between France's Cyril Saulnier and Colombia's Alejandro Falla.

“Since I dropped my coach, I feel better but the results are not that good anymore,” said Mathieu ranked 52nd in the world.

“I hope I'll get a wild card for the Paris Masters Series (next week) because I don't feel like going through the qualifiers.”

Grosjean was the only Frenchman to make it through the opening round on Monday.

France's Thierry Ascione lost 6-3, 6-1 to fifth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling, the 2004 champion, and Nicolas Mahut went out 7-6, 6-3 to German Florian Mayer.

Results:

First round: 6-Sebastien Grosjean (France) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3); 5-Robin Soederling (Sweden) beat Thierry Ascione (France) 6-3, 6-1; 8-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) beat Oliver Marach (Austria) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1; Nicolas Massu (Chile) beat Kevin Kim (US) 7-6 (8-6), 7-5; Florian Mayer (Germany) beat Nicolas Mahut (France) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

ST PETERSBURG OPEN

ST PETERSBURG, Oct 24: Eighth-seeded Austrian Juergen Melzer was knocked out by Czech Lukas Dlouhy 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the St Petersburg Open on Monday.

Finland's fifth seed Jarkko Nieminen saw off unseeded Janko Tipsarevich of Serbia 7-5, 6-2 to reach the second round of the $1-million event.

Nieminen will now meet Potito Starace, who beat fellow Italian Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-3.

South Africa's Wesley Moodie eliminated Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in another first-round clash to set up a meeting with either top seed Nikolay Davydenko or Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who play on Tuesday.

Davydenko, hoping to secure a place in next month's season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, faces Santoro in a rematch of their Kremlin Cup semi-final in Moscow earlier this month when the Russian won in straight sets on his way to claiming his fourth title of the year.Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo was scheduled to play his first-round match on Tuesday, taking on Australian doubles specialist Wayne Arthurs.

Results:

First round: Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) beat Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (9-7); Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) beat Bjoern Phau (Germany) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; Potito Starace (Italy) beat Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 6-3, 6-3; 5-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 7-5, 6-2; Ernest Gulbis (Latvia) beat Robin Vik (Czech Republic) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4); Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) beat 8-Juergen Melzer (Austria) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Wesley Moodie (South Africa) beat Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.