BRISBANE, Jan 4: Frenchman Richard Gasquet blew away the cobwebs to beat his countryman Marc Gicquel and move through to the second round of the Brisbane International tennis tournament here on Sunday.

The world No 24 lost the first set against his compatriot but stormed back to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

He will play Taylor Dent in the second round following the American’s 7-6, 6-2 win over Steve Darcis of Belgium.

Gasquet and Gicquel are part of a seven-strong contingent of French men at the Brisbane International, which also includes second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Fourth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden moved into the second round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over American Sam Querry.

He will take on Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the next round after Benneteau downed Robbi Ginepri of the United States in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Meanwhile, second seeded Belarussian Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli, the third seed from France, cruised into the second round with impressive straight-set wins.

Azarenka thrashed Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko 6-0, 6-2 and Bartoli was too strong for 16-year-old Australian wildcard Monica Wejnert, winning 6-1, 6-2 in 54 minutes.

Azarenka will take on Australian-based Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round after Gajdosova’s surprise 6-4, 6-2 win over China’s Peng Shuai.

Gajdosova, 21, has lived in Melbourne since she was 16 and is a scholarship holder with the Australian Institute of Sport.

She is to marry fellow Australian player Samuel Growth next month and has applied for citizenship, but it has still not been granted and she is listed by the WTA as Slovakian.

The only major upset came when Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova downed sixth seeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-1, 6-4. The players are six places apart on the WTA rankings, Kanepi at 27 and Kleybanova at 33.

In the day’s only other result, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria beat Romania’s Monica Niculescu 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in a match that lasted three hours and seven minutes.

Top seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia makes her first appearance on Monday when she takes on Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

First round results (prefix number denotes seed):

Men’s singles:

Julien Benneteau (France) bt Robby Ginepri (US) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5; 4-Robin Soederling (Sweden) bt Sam Querrey (US) 6-3, 6-3; Taylor Dent (US) bt Steve Darcis (Belgium) 7-6 (7-0), 6-2; 7-Richard Gasquet (France) beat Marc Gicquel (France) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s singles:

Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) bt Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4; Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) bt 6-Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 6-1, 6-4; 3-Marion Bartoli (France) bt Monica Wejnert (Australia) 6-1, 6-2; 2-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-0, 6-2; Jarmila Gajdosova (Slovakia) bt Peng Shuai (China) 6-4, 6-2.—Agencies