Henman, Rusedski progress

Rusedski cruised past Stoliarov in straight sets

Click here for Tuesday's results

Britain's top two tennis players have made it through comfortably into the second round of the tournaments they are playing this week.

Tim Henman took a comfortable 6-4 6-1 win over Frenchman Anthony Dupuis in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel while Greg Rusedski beat Russia's Andrei Stoliarov 6-1 6-4 in the St Petersburg Open.

Meanwhile, US Open champion Lleyton Hewitt has pulled out of the Stockholm Open due to injury.

Hewitt's agent Tom Ross told organizers that Hewitt has a back problem, but Swedish officials were not convinced.

"As long as I win my matches, the Masters race will take care of itself

Tim Henman

"We have been informed by [governing body] the ATP that he could receive a big fine," said former Swedish star Stefan Edberg, a vice-president in the tournament's competition committee.

Henman was pushed hard in the first set, but he moved ahead comfortably as errors began to creep into Dupuis' game in the second.

It is a good first step towards his goal of playing in the season-ending Masters Cup, which is for the top eight players in the world. Henman is ranked 10th.

With six of those places locked up and another going to Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, it leaves Henman, Tommy Haas, Sebastien Grosjean, Pete Sampras and Marat Safin all battling for the sole remaining spot.

"I feel I'm playing well enough to qualify," said Henman. "The Masters Cup has been a distraction in the past but I'm trying to pay as little attention to it as possible.

"As long as I win my matches, the race will take care of itself.

'Hitting ball well'

Rusedski was delighted with the result after two successive first round defeats in his previous two tournaments.

"I'm pleased with the way I played. The last time I lost to him (Stoliarov) in three sets," the seventh seed said.

"Finally my serve worked again today and I was also moving well and hitting the ball well.

Rusedski's powerful serve was on song as he hit seven aces to overwhelm his Russian opponent just over an hour.

Second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Felix Mantilla, Mikhail Yuzhny, Stefan Koubek, Attial Savolt and Michael Llodra all join Rusedski in the second round of the St Petersburg ATP tournament.

Henman is joined by Arnaud Clement, Nikolay Davydenko, Nicolas Thomann, Michel Kratochvil, Marc Rosset, Carlos Moya and Andrea Gaudenzi in the second round of the Stockholm Open.

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Tuesday's results:

St Petersburg Open
Greg Rusedski (GB) beat Andrei Stoliarov (Rus) 6-1 6-4
Michael Llodra (Fra) beat Dominic Hrbaty (Slk) 6-3 7-6 (7-3)
Felix Mantilla (Spa) beat Irakli Labadze (Geo) 6-4 7-6 (7-3)
Mikhail Yuzhny (Rus) beat Alex Calatrava (Spa) 7-5 7-5
Stefan Koubek (Aut) beat Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-1 7-6 (7-0)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Rus) beat Sargis Sargsian (Arm) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2
Attila Savolt (Hun) beat Jacobo Diaz (Spa) 6-4 7-5

Stockholm Open
Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) beat Mark Philippoussis (Aus) 6-2 5-7 6-2
Arnaud Clement (Fra) beat Gaston Gaudio (Arg) 6-4 6-1
Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) beat Galo Blanco (Spa) 6-1 6-4
Nicolas Thomann (Fra) beat Juan Balcells (Spa) 6-4 2-6 6-2
Michel Kratochvil (Swi) beat Albert Portas (Spa) 5-7 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 Marc Rosset (Swi) beat Alex Corretja (Spa) 6-4 3-6 6-1
Tim Henman (GB) beat Anthony Dupuis (Fra) 6-4 6-1
Carlos Moya (Spa) beat Davide Sanguinetti (Ita) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4
Andrea Gaudenzi (Ita) beat Tommy Robredo (Spa) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4