Andy Roddick opened his European claycourt campaign with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Greg Rusedski, as the top seeds all enjoyed comfortable victories in the opening round of the Rome Masters in Rome on Monday.
Roddick, who took over as number one seed after Roger Federer withdrew due to a foot injury, was joined in the second round by former champion Andre Agassi, who beat wild card Alessio Di Mauro 7-5, 6-2.
Fourth seed Tim Henman underlined his newfound confidence on clay with a 6-3, 6-3 win over three-times French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten.
Roddick was making his first competitive outing since winning the ATP claycourt event in Houston last month.
He gained the decisive break of the first set by drawing his opponent into the net before whipping over a crosscourt forehand that Rusedski could only dump into the net.
The Briton then netted a routine volley to drop serve at the start of the second set. Roddick broke again and held on to close out the contest.
The result came as a relief for the American, who was eliminated in the opening round of last year's Rome tournament by Guillermo Canas.
"I've beaten some good players on clay before, so I know I can play well on it," said Roddick, who faces former French Open champion Alberto Costa next.
"It's just a matter of getting into the comfort zone. The first matches are always very uncomfortable and it's more difficult for me to get into that zone than it is on other surfaces.
"I've worked a lot harder off the court with my fitness. I think last year I was a little bit heavy. This is the most prepared I've been."
DIG IN
Agassi, the 2002 champion, had to dig in during a tight first set against Di Mauro, who had a point to take a 5-3 lead.
Having lost the set, however, the Italian crumbled and Agassi next plays Richard Gasquet, who thrashed Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan 6-0, 6-2.
Last month the 18-year-old Gasquet knocked Federer out of the Monte Carlo Masters event -- one of just two defeats the world number one has suffered this year.
"He's a very talented player and, like so many of the French, has such a nice backhand. It's great to watch him come through," said Agassi.
"The match he played against Roger was of a very high level and he's obviously playing well."
Henman's win over Kuerten was due in part to unforced errors by the Brazilian, who is not yet back to his best following hip surgery last September.
But the Briton also produced some intelligent net play as he began his preparation for Roland Garros, where he was a surprise semi-finalist 12 months ago.
"In Kuerten I know I've knocked out a very good player. I think last year was a big breakthrough for me psychologically," Henman said.
"I know I have to use my style. I have to keep moving forward, using my volleys. If I try to play claycourt players from the baseline there's only going to be one winner."
The only notable casualties of the day were Russian 14th seed Nikolay Davydenko, who was beaten 6-3, 7-5 by Spain's Fernando Verdasco, and 10th seed Joachim Johansson, defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Italian Andreas Seppi.
A string of unforced errors by the Swede handed Seppi the first set in just 19 minutes. Johansson then dropped his opening service game of the second and by the time he had found the range on his groundstrokes it was too late to prevent the wild card from winning.
In Tuesday's matches, second seed Marat Safin plays Jiri Novak, Carlos Moya opens the defence of his title against local favourite Potito Starace, while Spain's Rafael Nadal takes on Mikhail Youzhny.
