Paradorn Srichaphan powered to his first clay-court victory since Roland Garros last spring, crushing Kenneth Carlsen 6-1, 6-2 to advance on Monday at the Barcelona Open.
The Thai 15th seed, beaten by Cyril Saulnier in the first round in Monte Carlo, turned his poor form on its head with the win at the Real Club de Tenis.
In Paris last year, Paradorn beat Czech Tomas Berdych before losing to former finalist Alex Corretja of Spain, his last outings on the surface prior to last week.
The top Thai's success sets up a meeting today against a young player personally schooled by Roger Federer.
Swiss Stanislav Wawrinka occasionally takes tips from the world No. 1, his frequent practise partner.
The former junior champion in Paris showed that his clay game packs a punch with a demolition of Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-1.
Federer's ad hoc guidance could serve the 20-year-old well as he plays in only his third ATP-level event of the season.
With Rafael Nadal coming off the high which marked his Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday over Guillermo Coria, the fourth-seeded teenager from Mallorca will be the focus of attention in tennis-mad Barcelona.
Nadal would draw a crowd for yesterday's doubles test alongside Feliciano Lopez and his singles campaign begins today against the winner of Spaniard Marc Lopez and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Fourth seed Nadal has marked much of his game for improvement in the run-up to Roland Garros -- fearful news for opponents.
"My objective is to improve my tennis. If I do that, I think I can win a lot of matches," the world No. 11 said.
In the absence of leading seeds with first-round byes, lesser contenders took center stage on opening day.
Swedish ninth seed Thomas Johansson won his first clay match of the season over Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-1.
Johansson, who lost in the first round a week ago at Monte Carlo, was untroubled as he earned his 13th victory of the season. He will next face Xavier Malisse, who dispatched German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-2.
As usual, the field at the home of Catalan tennis is populated by Spaniards, with nearly half the draw made up of Iberians. Locals started with 20 players in a 48-man field including five seeds.
US Clay court championships
Sixth seed Sebastien Grosjean and No. 7 Jurgen Melzer advanced to the second round of the US Clay Court Championships on Monday, while second-seeded Andre Agassi warmed up for singles action with a rare doubles appearance.
France's Grosjean defeated Bjorn Phau of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, while Austria's Melzer beat Argentina's Mariano Puerta 6-3, 6-3.
Puerta was the only player in the field with a clay-court title this season.
They were the only seeds in singles action on the opening day of the US$380,000 tournament in which Andy Roddick is the top seed.
Roddick will face a qualifier in his first-round match yesterday, while Agassi will play Czech Michal Tabara in his opener.
But fans got a glimpse of Agassi in action on Monday as he teamed with his former rival, Jim Courier, in doubles.
The pair fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to Argentina's Martin Garcia and Peru's Luis Horna.
Roddick, the top seed, won here in 2001 and 2002.
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