Enqvist advances despite shaky start

The top seed Thomas Enqvist recovered from a sluggish opening to beat Andrei Pavel 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and reach the second round of the Munich Open yesterday.

The Swede, who won the clay court tournament in 1998, made a string of unforced errors to surrender the first set to Pavel, a losing finalist here last year. But he then managed to pick up his game, using his powerful serves and devastating returns to tame theRomanian.

Pavel was one break up when he took Enqvist's serve again to win the first set, with the Swede firing a backhand wide on set point. Enqvist fought back, breaking his opponent straight away in the second set. Pavel later handed him the set by hitting a forehand long.

The Swede stayed on top, opening up a 4-0 lead in thedecisive set before sealing victory with a service winner on his first match point.

"I was standing too far back in the first set and Andrei played really well." Enqvist said. "Then I started being more aggressive and things went my way.

"This is a very special tournament for me," added Enqvist, who made his professional debut as a 15-year-old at the 1989 Munich Open.

The Argentinian Franco Squillari, last year's champion, also came from behind to beat Jens Knippschild, of Germany, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1. Knippschild put up a brave fight, snatching the first-set tie-break 8-6. But Squillari, a baseliner seeded seventh, improved steadily as the match went on.