Former champ Rusedski among Paris winners

PARIS, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Former champion Greg Rusedski was a first-round winner Monday at the $2.53 million BNP Paribas Masters, the last of nine Masters Series events this year.

American James Blake and German Tommy Haas were also first-round winners.

Rusedski, the 1998 winner, beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4; Blake defeated Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-3; and Haas was a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 winner over Romanian Andrei Pavel.

Rusedski next faces third-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko; Blake takes on sixth-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic; and Haas will face fifth-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian.