Number one seed Luis Horna set out his stall on the XL Open?s second night with a powerful display of South American ?dirt-balling?.

The intimidating shaven-headed Peruvian put in a performance typical of players from his continent, of which there are 11 competing in the first round, rarely leaving the baseline but happily grinding his opponent down with near-perfect length groundstrokes.

Horna, who lost in a semi-final in the US Clay Court Championships in Houston to Andy Roddick last Saturday, accompanied each of his torpedo-like groundstrokes with an unwavering grunt on his way to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Sebastian De Chaunac.

The 23-year-old Horna ? ranked 59 in the world and with a win over world number one Roger Federer in the first round of the French Open last year ? also offers a devastating serve and a wickedly gentle drop shot in his repertoire which should serve him well in a tournament where only clay court experts will have prevailed by the end of tomorrow.

De Chaunac, defeated in the first round by eventual winner Flavio Saretta last year, can feel slightly aggrieved at his draw again this year as the world?s 155th best player battled gamely with some crowd-pleasing moments before ultimately succumbing to the solid Horna.

The Peruvian captured the first set 6-2 but the second was tighter with three breaks in succession giving Horna a 4-2 lead.

From that position he never looked back, going on to punish De Chaunac for his relative inconsistency and inability to dash up the court quick enough for the incredulous slice on the drop shots.

Earlier in the evening, the Bermudian public were treated to an unpolished performance by a player with an incredible amount of potential.

Teenager Phillip Simmonds was handed a wildcard for his first tournament on clay and despite coming a cropper 6-2, 6-4 to Ecuadorian former world top ten player Nicolas Lapentti, he by no means disgraced himself.

Loping on to the court wearing headphones and looking ridiculously relaxed, the 17-year-old could have been mistaken for an exceptionally tall ball boy, but when the game against the number two seed got going, he showed the full array of shots that helped him claim a junior Grand Slam doubles title.

Approaching each shot with a deceptively laid-back swagger, he hits the ball with incredible power and accuracy, albeit too infrequently to worry the older Lapentti brother, an experienced Davis Cup and Grand Slam player.

On the night, there were too many unforced errors but such was his potential, and his look of anguish after each lost point, that he collected a disproportionate amount of maternal, sympathetic applause from the crowd when he did win his points.

But the young American, who hit enough explosive winners to justify his wildcard, was encouragingly positive after his defeat.

?This was my first tournament on clay and I think I could have done with quite a bit more preparation,? said the affable youngster who has been accompanied by his mother during his brief spell in Bermuda.

?Clay is a completely different surface to what I am used to, but I think I got a lot out of the game playing against a former top ten player.

?There is a bit of pressure on you when you are seen as a player of the future but it is quite flattering and it is great to get invitations to come to places as beautiful as Bermuda.?