Malisse sneaks into second round in Metz

Metz, France – Sixth seed Xavier Malisse was a hard- round winner Tuesday at the $550,000 Moselle Open tennis event.

The Belgian Malisse held off German Michael Berrer 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on the indoor hardcourts at Metz Expo Park. Malisse popped 12 aces in the 1-hour, 42-minute affair.

Four Frenchmen advanced on Day 2, as qualifier Nicolas Renavand topped German Tobias Kamke 7-5, 6-4; wild card Benoit Paire bested Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 7-5, 6-2; qualifier Mathieu Rodrigues downed Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; and Nicolas Mahut mauled Argentine Diego Junqueira 6-3, 6-2. Rodrigues should have his hands full with top-seeded fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Belgian Olivier Rochus rolled past France's Stephane Robert 6-1, 6-3 and Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling subdued promising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2. Rochus will battle second-seeded French star Richard Gasquet in his next outing.

A crowd-pleasing first-round match on Wednesday will pit fifth-seeded Michael Llodra against fellow veteran French favorite Arnaud Clement, the former Australian Open runner-up who titled here in Metz back in 2003.

The 2011 Moselle Open champion will collect $100,000.