Top seed Marat Safin beat French teenager Richard Gasquet 6-4 7-6 to reach the second round of the Lyon Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten came back from a set down to defeat fifth-seeded Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui 6-7 6-2 6-4.

World number three Safin said: "I'm glad I won in two sets as I'm going to play every week until the end of season because I want to finish the year as the world number one," said Safin.

Gasquet, the US Open junior champion, had faced Safin at the Monte Carlo Masters in April when he managed to win only five games.

"It's not easy to face a player such as Safin on hard-court," said Gasquet.

"I had the feeling I was a bit tight in my game and in my mind but it's a good experience." Elsewhere, Sebastien Grosjean was made to fight for his first-ever win over Cedric Pioline.

The French number one walked the first set but lost the second before eventually claiming a 6-1 5-7 6-1 first-round victory.

"I lost my serve at the beginning of the second set and he made fewer unforced errors," he explained.

Pioline, the top man in French tennis before a series of injuries caused him to slip down the rankings, entered the tournament as a wild card.

After his defeat, he said even taking a set off third seed Grosjean was a real morale-booster.

Dispatched

"I can only improve and I know I can do it," said the former Wimbledon and US Open finalist.

In other games Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Escude, were in winning form.

Clement had an easy 6-4 6-2 victory over French qualifier Julien Benneteau and Escude dispatched Italian Davide Sanguinetti 7-6 (7/4) 6-1.

Escude is on course to face Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the second round.

The Russian faces Brazil's Fernando Meligeni in his first-round match on Wednesday.

First Round:
N Escude (Fra) bt D Sanguinetti (Ita) 7-6 (7/4) 6-1
3-S Grosjean (Fra) bt C Pioline (Fra) 6-1 5-7 6-1
M Rosset (Swi) bt A Voinea (Rom) 6-4 6-4
K Pless (Den) bt D Sanchez (Spa) 6-4 6-4
A Clement (Fra) bt J Benneteau (Fra) 6-4 6-2
I Ljubicic (Cro) bt G Carraz (Fra) 6-4 5-7 7-5
G Kuerten (Bra) bt 5-Y El Aynaoui (Mor) 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-4
1-M Safin (Rus) bt R Gasquet 6-4 7-6 (7/5)