VIENNA, Oct 6: Fourth seed Sjeng Schalken faces Britain’s Tim Henman in the second round of the indoor CA Trophy after both swept aside qualifiers in their opening matches on Monday.

Dutchman Schalken wore down Germany’s Alexander Waske 4-6 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the 765,000 euro ATP event, while unseeded Henman barely broke a sweat in seeing off Italy’s Stefano Pescosolido 6-2 6-3.

Schalken said he was looking forward to playing the 2000 Vienna champion in the next round.

A strong performance by Schalken on the hardcourt in Vienna is important if he wants to boost his chances of qualifying for the prestigious Masters Cup in Houston from November 8-16.

Schalken stands 11th in the ATP Champions Race, with the top eight players qualifying for the season-ending jamboree.

Top seed and Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has already secured his ticket to Houston, so a solid showing this week is merely a matter of honour.

The Swiss is gunning for his sixth title of the year and begins the defence of his Viennese crown on Tuesday against Spain’s David Ferrer.

Second seed Carlos Moya of Spain and Czech third seed Jiri Novak, who lost to Federer in the final last year, also contend their first-round matches on Tuesday.

In other first-round play, Finn Jarkko Niemenen advanced with a 7-6 6-0 win over Slovak Karol Kucera.

The tournament has been hit by some high-profile withdrawals due to injury, including initial top seed Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Argentine third seed Guillermo Coria.

First round results:

Tim Henman bt Stefano Pescosolido 6-2 6-3; Jonas Bjorkman bt Filippo Volandri 6-1 6-4; Sjeng Schalken bt Alexander Waske 4-6 6-1 6-2; Jarkko Nieminen bt Karol Kucera 7-6 (7-4) 6-0.—Reuters