BASTAD, Sweden -- Wimbledon semifinalist Marat Safin rebounded from an early 3-0 deficit to beat Marc Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 7-5 in the first round of the Swedish Open on Tuesday.
"It was tough because coming from grass it is a little bit different surface," said Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion who lost to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals.
"He has great hands and he is also a clay-court specialist. If he had won the first set I think it would have been a tough one because he is the kind of person that goes with the confidence."
Fifth-seeded Carlos Moya lost in the first round, falling to Potito Starace 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-4, but Thomas Johansson of Sweden defeated Filip Prpic 7-6 (4), 6-3 and will meet fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the second round.
"It will be a tough game. He is good on all surfaces," Johansson said. "It will be fun to see what I can make of it."
Seventh-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland rallied to beat Sergio Roitman of Argentina 6-4, 6-2. He will face Steve Darcis of Belgium in the second round, who advanced after defeating Daniel Koellerer of Austria 7-6 (4), 6-0.
Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden and Olivier Rochus of Belgium also reached the second round.
