JET-LAGGED MONFILS HOGS THE LIMELIGHT AS DAVYDENKO, SODERLING CHECK INTO LAST

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Jet-lagged Frenchmen Gael Monfils and
Richard Gasquet advanced to the second round of the inaugural Malaysian Open
today while Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Swede Robin Soderling, both clinched
easy wins to book their quarter final berths.

Fifth seed Monfils set up a clash against Argentine Martin Vassallo
Arguello, after winning 70 per cent of service points, including nine aces, to
beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-2) in a grueling one hour and
36 minutes battle.

Commenting on his straight sets win which had to be decided by tie-breaks,
Monflis said: "I knew it was going to be a tough match for me as I had just
arrived this morning."

The 23-year old Frenchman ended his four-year title drought on Sunday
(September 27) by winning the Open de Moselle title in Metz, France by beating
Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final.

"After the Metz final, I couldn't get a flight to Geneva, so I rented a car
and drove home and arrived at 3am to pack my things. On Tuesday, I had to fly to
Paris to catch the flight to Kuala Lumpur, so I haven't had much time to rest
since Sunday.

"This morning I arrived at the hotel (Mandarin Oriental) at 9am, had
breakfast and rushed to the Putra Stadium at 10am to warm up for my match. I'm
tired and jet-lagged right now but I will do my best to recover well for
Thursday's match," said Monflis.

Meanwhile, his countryman Gasquet, despite struggling to adapt to time and
climate changes here, managed to beat Romanian Victor Crivoi in straight sets
6-1, 6-2.

"I think I played a good match despite waking up at 2am Wednesday because I
have yet to adjust to the time change here, but I hope tonight I can sleep
well," said the 23-year-old who hit 12 aces en route to winning.

His second round opponent would be Swedish wild card Joachim Johansson who
edged former World No. 1 and eighth seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, on
Tuesday.

Meanwhile, top seed and world number eight, Davydenko and third seeded world
number 11, Soderling, clinched comfortable wins over two American wildcards in
their second round matches respectively.

Davydenko, 28, outplayed Taylor Dent 6-3, 6-6 (7-4), while Soderling crushed
Brendan Evans 6-1, 6-1.

With the wins, Daydenko and Soderling earned byes in their second round
matches and advanced straight into the quarter finals.

"It was a difficult match against Dent but I had a good serve and I tried to
play aggressively from the first point so, I didn't let him set into a rhythm,"
said the Russian.

Soderling, 25 said: "Prior to this tournament, I played a lot of tennis
(tournaments) and I know pretty well that playing the first match in any
tournament is always difficult. But, right from start, I managed to keep the
under my control."

Davydenko will face either Vassallo or Monflis while Soderling will take on
the winner of the match between Tomas Berdych (Czech) or Simon Greul of Germany.
-- BERNAMA