Davydenko advances in Moscow

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko opened his defence of the Kremlin Cup on Tuesday with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Frenchman Florent Serra.

The two-time reigning champion extended his winning streak here to 11 matches and appears primed to extend the run with unseeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez awaiting him in the second round.

Davydenko, also a champion here in 2004, remains the clear favourite to claim another trophy. The world number five and top-ranked Russian is the only player in the draw ranked inside the top 15.

Former world number one and two-time grand slam champion Marat Safin, the seventh seed, reached the second round with a 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-4 win over Israel's Noam Okun.

Currently ranked 40th, Safin appeared to be regaining his top-10 form when he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year, but he has won just six matches since.

The upset of the day was produced by Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin, who knocked off sixth-seeded Frenchman Michael Llodra 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.

The world number 121 will face another Frenchman, 35-year-old Fabrice Santoro, in the second round.

Eighth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic was nearly ousted as well but managed a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6) win over Russia's Alexandre Kudryavtsev.

Other winners on Tuesday were Julien Benneteau, Viktor Troicki, Dudi Sela and Robby Ginepri.