Wayne Odesnik made a memorable Moscow debut today.

The 91st-ranked lefthander broke serve six times and fought off a match point in the second set to surprise second-seeded Victor Hanescu, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, in a two hour, 15-minute opening-round match at the Kremlin Cup.

"I was mentally strong today and stayed with him the whole match," said Odesnik.

Robby Ginepri played with resilience in edging fourth-seeded Russian Igor Andreev, 6-3, 6-7(9), 7-6(1). It was Ginepri's second win over Andreev, the 2005 champion, in as many meetings. Ginepri beat Andreev in the second round of Roland Garros last year. The 92nd-ranked American meets Marcel Granollers next. Granollers held a 6-4, 1-0, lead over Nicolas Kiefer when the German veteran retired.

It was Odesnik's first ATP main draw win since he beat 28th-ranked Igor Andreev to reach the round of 16 in Washington, DC in August. Odesnik, who was runner-up to Taylor Dent in last month's Tulsa Challenger, will take on Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin for a place in the quarterfinals. Kukushkin held off Italian Fabio Fognini, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Continuing his farewell tour to tournament tennis, seventh-seeded Fabrice Santoro beat Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The 36-year-old Frenchman, a Moscow semifinalist last year, meets Ukranian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky for a spot in the last eight. Stakhovsky stopped Mikhail Biryukov, 6-0, 6-2.

Former World No. 1 Marat Safin, runner-up to compatriot Igor Kunitsyn in the 2008 Moscow final, could take his final bow at his hometown tournament tomorrow. Safin is set to play top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who swept World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in Sunday's Shanghai Masters final.

Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan toppled eighth-seeded Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina, 7-5, 6-3. Christophe Rochus held a 7-5 advantage over Marc Gicquel when the Frenchman retired. Rochus will play sixth-seeded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in the round of 16. Tipsarevic defeated Daniel Koellerer, 6-4, 6-3.