SYDNEY, Jan 12: Greg Rusedski briefly cast aside his off-court troubles to beat Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 7-6 at the Sydney international on Monday.
Former world number Lleyton Hewitt also made a successful return to the tour after a four-month break with a 6-4 6-2 win over Sargis Sargsian of Armenia.
But last year's Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler, the second seed, crashed out to Swedish qualifier Joachim Johansson.
Germany's Schuettler, who was also beaten in the first round at Doha last week, slipped to a surprise 6-4 6-4 defeat to the boyfriend of Hewitt's younger sister Jaslyn.
"I'm been practising with Lleyton for the last two weeks so I should say thanks to him," Johansson said. Rusedski, the British number two, regained his composure after failing to serve out for the match in the second set, winning a second successive tiebreak to send the higher-ranked South American tumbling out of the tournament.
Chela, a finalist in Sydney two years ago, twice had a chance to square the match at one set all only to be denied by the booming left-hand serve of Rusedski, who celebrated his victory by punching the air in delight.
Results:
Men's singles (first round): Joachim Johansson (Sweden) beat 2-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-4 6-4; 7-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) 6-4 6-2; Greg Rusedski (Britain) beat Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5); Todd Reid (Australia) beat 6-Nicolas Massu (Chile) 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4
Women's singles (first round): 7-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) beat Cindy Watson (Australia) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2; Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) 6-0 6-0; Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Jelena Jankovic (Serbia & Montenegro) 6-4 3-6 6-4; Meghann Shaughnessy (U.S.) beat Asa Svensson (Sweden) 6-1 6-2
AUCKLAND OPEN
AUCKLAND: First round results from the Auckland Open ATP tennis tournament:
2-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 7-6 (9-7) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3; Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) beat 7-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) 6-3 6-4; 1-Guillermo Coria (Argentina) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3; David Sanchez (Spain) beat Jan-Michael Gambill (U.S.) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3; Gregory Carraz (France) beat Karol Beck (Slovakia) 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3-Reuters