A match-up between the former world number four ranked player and Bermuda's Open champion just three years ago should have been one of the more mouth-watering prospects at Coral Beach yesterday.

Instead, German Nicolas Kiefer, determined to re-establish himself among the tennis elite following a string of injury problems, made it very much a one-sided affair as he swept 2000 champ Andrew Illie off court in less than an hour.

Making the 6-2, 6-3 victory even more remarkable was the fact that last night's contest marked Kiefer's first-ever appearance on green clay.

Given the result, it might be a surface on which he'll want to play more often in the future.

Kiefer's solid groundstrokes and all-around consistency gave him the edge throughout while Australian Ilie, who has endeared himself to the Bermuda crowd in past appearances, never appeared to find his rhythm.

Some sloppy returns combined with an erratic serve left him fighting an uphill battle and when he dropped serve in the sixth game of the second set there was never any doubt which way the match was going.

“I felt good tonight,” said Kiefer afterwards. “I was hitting the ball well. It was very humid, so it's not easy but conditions were good so I can't complain.

“It's my first time on green clay, so I have a 100 percent record. Let's hope I can keep it going.”

Asked of his lofty ranking just three years ago, Kiefer said: “I don't want to talk about my past. I have to concentrate about what's happening now. I'm trying to get over some injuries and that's why I'm here.”

Ilie admitted, as a former winner, he was disappointed to fall at the first hurdle.

“I was just a couple of shots off. And he played really good, particularly the important points.

“It might be just a matter of match fitness. I was struggling a bit on the serve but I should have been a bit more patient, the conditions were quite heavy.

“Being a former champion doesn't mean anything against these players. It's disappointing, but there's always next year.”

Meanwhile, Justin Gimelstob was clearly not overly impressed by his two-set victory over promising Canadian Frank Dancevic.

The American beat the 18-year-old 7-6 (7), 6-3 in match that finished just before 11 p.m. due to drawn out matches earlier in the day.

However, he stayed on court long after playing the winning shot, practising serves with his coach.

During the match he lost his temper with himself, a line judge - “why didn't you call the other one like that and we would not be here right now!” - and, quite rightly, some noisy members of the crowd.

Despite those incidents he still had too much for Dancevic who, though able to duke it out with the larger man in the first set, allowed himself to be broken in the second game of the second set and never recovered.

“I had opportunities in the first set,” said the youngster afterwards. “I had set point and got a bad bounce. But he played a good match and played solid.”