Lleyton Hewitt returned to action for the first time since splitting with Kim Clijsters to defeat French teenager Gael Monfils at the Paris Masters. The Australian second seed went ahead early in the first set and took the first set 6-3 after 38 minutes.
But the 18-year-old, who beat Thomas Enqvist on Monday, battled bravely in the second before Hewitt took it on the tie-break to win 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Andrei Pavel, last year's runner-up, beat Mardy Fish 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
He will face 2000 and 2002 champion Marat Safin, the sixth seed.
And 18th seed Tommy Haas of Germany beat Belgian Xavier Malisse 6-1 7-6 (7-1).
 |  I thought it would be harder to move up to top-flight level |
"He's going to be a very good player in the future and I knew it was going to be tough," said Hewitt of Monfils, the former junior world number one. "He has a lot of talent and he's flashy, like most of the French players."
Monfils said: "I obviously need to work on my physique, but I was glad to see there is not such a huge difference between Hewitt and me.
"I thought it would be harder to move up to top-flight level. I even expected to get a severe beating. But the gap is not that great," he added.
Meanwhile Robin Soderling of Sweden, who won his first ATP title in Lyon last month, recovered from a tough start to beat Italian Davide Sanguinetti 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-0.
Fellow Swede Thomas Johansson, who beat Andre Agassi to win the Stockholm Open on Sunday, lost 7-5 6-2 to Armenia's Sargis Sargsian.
MMIX
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