Safin and Kafelnikov feeling the heat

Top seeds and fellow Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov moved into the second round of the President's Cup on Wednesday, but both men complained of acclimatisation problems.

Number one seed and defending champion Safin overcame Israeli qualifier Noam Okun 6-4 6-2 in just 64 minutes.

Second seed Kafelnikov had more trouble dispatching Germany's Lars Burgmuller, but he came through 6-4 7-6.

After winning the first set, Kafelnikov, a 1998 finalist here, found himself 5-1 down in the second, having surrendered two service games on unforced errors.

But the U.S. Open semifinalist regained his concentration to level the score and claim the tiebreak 7-2.

Both Kafelnikov and Safin, who also lost in the U.S. Open semifinals in New York last week, said they were having problems acclimatising to the heat in the Uzbek capital.

"It's hard to play at full strength as I had a difficult flight...I haven't even acclimatised, all the more so as it is too hot," Safin told a post-match press conference.

"I didn't sleep through the night."

Slovakian third seed Dominik Hrbaty dispatched compatriot Jan Kroslak 7-5 6-1, while fourth seed Sjeng Schalken beat Frenchman Anthony Dupuis 6-4 6-0 in second round matches.

Both Hrbaty and Schalken are now through to the quarter-finals.

Safin meets Swiss Marc Rosset in the second round on Thursday, while Kafelnikov will face Austria's Stefan Koubek.

American Taylor Dent slumped to defeat on Wednesday, struggling to concentrate the day after terror attacks struck the United States.

The 20-year-old, who almost beat new U.S. Open champion Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set thriller at Wimbledon in June, lost 6-4 6-2 in the second round to Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan.

"I found out that my friends and family were okay, but it was tough on court today," he said. "It was hard not to think about what happened."