Top seed Marat Safin survived a first-round scare before prevailing over his doubles partner Max Mirnyi 6-7 7-6 7-6 in the Kremlin Cup on Monday.
In a battle between two power hitters, Safin saved two match points in the 10th game of the final set.
Belarussian Mirnyi twice served for the match in the second and third sets but double faulted on crucial points to hand Safin a lifeline.
Having won the first tiebreaker 10-8, Mirnyi broke Safin in the opening game of the second set after the former world number one double faulted on break point.
With Mirnyi's serve in high gear, Safin looked in real danger as the tall Belarussian prepared to serve out the match leading 5-4 in the 10th game of the second set.
But the 73rd-ranked Mirnyi double faulted twice to let the 2000 US Open champion back on serve to the delight of a large home crowd, including former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
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