Goran Ivanisevic, seeded 14th, champion here in 1993, went out 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 to American Todd Martin in the second round. The Croat was the first seed to be eliminated.

He was quickly followed by French Open finalist Alex Corretja, another player the French like because of his gentlemanly conduct on court.

The Spaniard, seeded sixth, was eliminated 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 by Germany's Tommy Haas in the second round, the man he overcame in the Lyon Grand Prix final on October 25.

French number one Cedric Pioline had also disappointed his fans in a straight sets first round defeat by American Vince Spadea.

In contrast, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski maintained their challenge for the last two places in the ATP Tour World Championship with convincing straight set wins.

The British pair needed almost exactly the same time -- 67 minutes for Rusedski, 68 for Henman -- to dismiss twopromising young players in the second round. The scorelines were almost identical too.

Ninth-seeded Henman beat Frenchman Arnaud Di Pasquale 6-3, 6-3. Thirteenth-seeded Rusedski needed one game more to eliminate Germany's Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-4.

Even though the British duo share the same immediate ambitions, their chances of qualifying for the lucrative season-ending tournament in Hanover later this month are quite different.

Only the top eight can play and six places are booked. Henman is currently 10th and Rusedski 13th.

``If I were to win a couple more matches here, I would be back in,'' said Henman. A Paris semifinal would guarantee his appearance in Germany.

The tour finale does not look a probability for Rusedski despite his convincing victory over Kiefer, a player he beat in straight sets in the Toulouse Open last month.

``Realistically, I don't think I have a shot to make Hanover,'' he said. ``I'm going to need Richard Krajicek, Tim, Kucera (players ranked above him) to perform reallypoorly. I really can't see that happening in indoor seasons with Paris and Stockholm left to play.''

Much will depend on ninth-ranked Krajicek's decision regarding the rest of his season. The former Wimbledon champion won in Stuttgart last week but with an injured knee and has to decide quickly whether to undergo an operation which would put him out of action for weeks.