Jason Stoltenberg, the Australian No.12, defeated Wayne Black of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-4.

Ferreira, who will skip South Africa's Davis Cup relegation match against Britain in September due to the birth of his first child, ended his victory with two aces against number 80 Tieleman, the losing finalist last year to Scott Draper.

Rafter on track

HALLE (Germany): Pat Rafter's bid to become the first Aussie for a quarter of a century to become World No. one began with a nicely judgedvictory over his compatriot Andrew Ilie at the $900,000 ATP Tour event here.

The United States Open champion broke serve in Ilie's first service game and in his opponent's last and never looked in danger of dropping his own during a 6-3, 7-5 success in the first round of the Gerry Weber Open.

It was a particularly encouraging start to the grasscourt season for the top seed because Rafter knows that if he can progress as far here as Pete Sampras and Yevgeny Kafelnikov do at Queens Club in London this week he should climb above them to the top. "I'm trying not to think about it but it is in my mind,so I have to accept that it is there," said Rafter, who showed no signs of tension against Ilie, often slicing his serve effectively to make it skid away on the sappy court.