Kuala Lumpur  - The French pair of Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet overcame jet lag to move into the second round of the Malaysian Open Wednesday as both advanced with ease.

Fifth seed Monfils, winner of the second tennis title of his career last weekend in Metz, France, had to travel long and hard to reach Asia, but started his campaign over Kazak Denis Istomin 7-6 (7-
3), 7-6 (7-2).

Gasquet crushed Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-2 while 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis again failed to put two match wins together, with the Cypriot losing to Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 to exit the second round.

Monfils, ranked 13th, needed a huge effort after his French title win, with his travel plans suddenly in chaos.

"After the final in Metz I couldn't get a flight to Geneva, so I rented a car and drove home and arrived at 3:00 am," said the Swiss- based player.

"On Tuesday I had to fly to Paris to catch the flight to Kuala Lumpur, so I haven't had much time to rest since winning the title in Metz.

"This morning I arrived at the hotel at 9:00, ate breakfast and then took a car to the site at 10:00 to warm up for my match. I am tired and jet lagged right now but I will do my best to recover well for tomorrow's match (when he plays for the quarter-finals against Argentine Martin Vassello Arguello)."

Monfils now stands 29-13 this season, firing nine aces to beat Istomin.

Leading seeds were in action later against Americans, with number one Nikolay Davydenko taking on Taylor Dent and number three French Open finalist Robin Soderling facing Brendon Evans.

Number 47 Gasquet will face off against tall Swede Joacham Johansson, who began his first ATP event in nearly a year with an upset of Australian eighth seed Lleyton Hewitt.

Gasquet also admitted to tiredness. "I played a good match despite waking up at 2:00 am. I haven't adapted to the time change, but I hope tonight I can sleep better." (dpa)