Kafelnikov taken to the limit

Third seed Kafelnikov was on court for over two hours

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Yevgeny Kafelnikov was taken to the limit before making it through the first round of the President's Cup with a final set tie-break win over Alexander Waske.

The Russian, seeded third, came through against his unseeded German opponent 6-7 7-6 7-6 in two hours 24 minutes.

My ultimate goal is the Davis Cup next week

Yevgeny Kafelnikov

Second seed Tommy Haas was also made to struggle before overcoming Switzerland's Marc Rosset 4-6 7-6 6-3.

But there were no such problems for top seed and defending champion Marat Safin, who strolled past Gregory Carraz of France 6-2 6-4.

Kafelnikov, last year's runner-up, had to fight back from 5-2 down in the third set and 5-1 down in the decisive tie-break to clinch victory as Waske sent down 30 aces.

"He has obviously got one big weapon, and that's his serve, so you are bound to lose a lot of points," said Kafelnikov.

"I was trying to make a few good returns on key points.

"My ultimate goal is the Davis Cup next week. I want to play very well this week so that I am in great form for the Davis Cup tie against Argentina."

Srichaphan has been in good form recently

Russia face Argentina in a Davis Cup semi-final tie in Moscow starting on 20 September.

Kafelnikov will take on Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen in the second round on Wednesday.

The first shock of the tournament came when another Dane, Kristian Pless, knocked out fourth seed Rainer Schuettler of Germany 7-6 6-2.

Pless will meet Lars Burgsmuller next, following the German's 4-6 6-0 6-2 win over Kirill Ivanov-Smolensky of Russia.

Thailand's number one Paradorn Srichaphan, who will take on Great Britain in the Davis Cup later this month, continued his excellent form of the summer.

The fifth seed beat Frenchman Anthony Dupuis 6-1 6-2 to set up a clash with Israel's Harel Levy.