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 on Tuesday.

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, hoping to secure a place in the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, 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 told a news conference.

"And of course, to win another title here in Moscow [Images]."

Crowd favourite Marat Safin [Images] 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 [Images] sports complex.

Earlier, French pride suffered another beating when Uzbek qualifier Denis Istomin upset sixth seed Michael Llodra 7-6, 6-3.

The women's sixth seed Venus Williams [Images] was also sent packing, beaten by Italy's [Images] Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. The Wimbledon [Images] champion had mostly herself to blame for the defeat, committing 38 unforced errors and seven double faults in a two-hour match.

KUZNETSOVA REVENGE

Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova [Images], however, again avenged her Olympic defeat by Li Na by beating the Chinese 6-4, 7-5. Li shocked the Russian in the first round of the Beijing [Images] Games in August, though Kuznetsova beat her in the Pan Pacific Open the following month.

"I knew she was a tough nut to crack so I'm happy to win in straight sets," Kuznetsova said.

"I'm still not totally satisfied with my game, though ,but I hope it gets better in the later rounds."

Next up for the former US Open [Images] champion is Italian qualifier Sara Errani, who knocked out world number 17 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Asked if she would like to follow the lead of compatriot Dinara Safina and cook an Italian dish with Errani, Kuznetsova snapped back: "Cook a dish with Errani? No way, I'd rather make a nice dish out of her on the court."

Second-seeded Safina, who had a bye into the second round along with the other top seeds, Jelena Jankovic, Elena Dementieva and Ana Ivanovic, joined forces with her opponent Amelie Mauresmo to cook a French meal for charity on Monday.

The women's field is the strongest in the Kremlin Cup's 19-year history, with only world number two Serena Williams [Images] and number six Maria Sharapova [Images] among the leading players absent because of injury.

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