Marat Safin produced some impressive tennis on his way to beating Xavier Malisse 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

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The Russian wild card showed glimpses of previous good form as he booked a date in the second round with Spaniard David Ferrer.

But early on it was not all plain sailing for the former world number one, and he was forced to save three break points at 2-2 before going on to break in the next game and take a 4-2 lead.

Safin proceeded to take the first set 6-3 and followed on with an early break in first game of the second.

Malisse broke back to 3-1 but the Belgian could not use that as a springboard to recovery and Safin's break in the next game set the Russian up for victory.

Safin will now meet Spaniard David Ferrer in the next round.

Finn Jarkko Nieminen set up a second-round encounter with Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero after his 6-0 6-4 thrashing of France's Marc Gicquel.

Eurosport