British number two Greg Rusedski clinched a 6-4 6-4 victory over Dmitry Tursunov in the St Petersburg Open.
The seventh seed, a semi-finalist last year, had the measure of his Russian opponent from the start of this first-round encounter.
The 32-year-old broke Tursunov once in each set to secure his spot in the second round of the tournament.
Rusedski will next play Kevin Kim of the United States who was a 6-1 4-6 7-5 victor over the Czech player Ivo Minar.
Top seed Nikolay Davydenko beat Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-1 to join Rusedski in the second round and boost his chances of qualifying for the season-ending Masters Cup for the first time.