Top seed Nikolay Davydenko began his bid for a third successive Kremlin Cup title with a 6-1 7-5 win over Frenchman Florent Serra.

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The Russian world number five cruised through the first set in 32 minutes but the 53rd-ranked Serra put up a better fight in the second, holding his serve to stay in the match.

Davydenko is hoping to secure a place in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

He finally broke Serra's serve in the 11th game to set up a second-round encounter with Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

"My goal is to finish the season in the top five for a fourth year in a row," Davydenko said afterwards. "And of course, I want to win another title here in Moscow."

Crowd favourite Marat Safin saw off Israeli qualifier Noam Okun in a tough battle 7-6 3-6 6-4 in the last match on centre court at Moscow's Olympic sports complex.

French pride suffered another beating at Moscow's Olympic sports complex when Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin upset sixth seed Michael Llodra 7-6 6-3.