round of the Bermuda Open at a wind-ravaged Coral Beach yesterday.

A shock looked on the cards when the Ecuadorian's opponent Fredrik Jonsson broke Lapentti's serve in the third game and then had the chance to serve for the first set at 5-4.

But Lapentti showed his class and came out best in a series of long rallies to break back. He eventually won the tiebreaker 7-4 and the match 7-6, 6-2.

Lapentti, 22, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals in January and is now ranked 44th in the world, said after coming off centre court that he was still on his way up.

"My goal at the beginning of the year was to get in the top 20, but things are moving faster than I thought for me and so I just want to get as high as I can,'' he said.

"I feel like I'm playing good tennis and I'm confident in my game. I know I wasn't playing at my top level today, but I did the things I needed to do to win and that was pleasing. I know that if I need to, I can raise my level.'' "He (Jonsson) got the early break and he was serving pretty well too. But when he served for the set at 5-4, I think he got a little bit nervous and he made some unforced errors. After that I felt in control of the match.'' The wind, which grew stronger as the match went on, seemed to affect Jonsson more than his opponent.

When Jonsson tossed up to serve at 2-0 down in the second set and the ball was blown to his left and was picked up by a ball boy in the tramlines, the look of resignation on the Swede's face said it all.

This year's appearance is Lapentti's third in the Bermuda Open and he admitted he had never played in such weather on the Island before.

"The conditions were not easy. The wind was blowing across the court from one side and it kept changing direction,'' he added.

Another to reach the last 16 yesterday was Lucas Arnold, last year's beaten finalist, who won a tough court seven encounter against Romanian Razvan Sabau, 7-5, 7-6.

The first game set the tone. It lasted nearly 15 minutes and Arnold survived four break points before holding his serve.

There was little to choose between the two, but the Argentine played the pressure points better.

Serving for the first set at 5-4, nerves seemed to get to Sabau, who handed the game to Arnold with an unforced error on his forehand followed by a double fault.

The second set went to a tense tiebreaker, won 7-5 by Arnold.

Wind blows Open stars off course From Page 21 American Jared Palmer enjoyed a more convincing victory, 6-3, 6-0 against Brazilian Paulo Taicher.

It started out as a tight contest, but at 3-3 Palmer moved into overdrive, pulling off some stunning passing shots and solid volleys, to win nine games in a row.

Palmer said: "It's frustrating to play in wind like that. The first few games we traded breaks and I was as frustrated as he was.

"In the second set, he was missing a lot of first services and getting more frustrated.'' Palmer's performance was one of the most impressive of the tournament so far and asked of his chances of winning the title, he said: "I think in men's tennis, any one of us is capable of winning it on a given day.'' In yesterday's other first-round matches, fourth seed Guillermo Canas of Argentina beat Germany's Marcelo Craca, 6-3, 6-3, while Brazilian qualifier Ricardo Schlachter went down 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to German Tomas Behrend.

Another qualifier, big-serving Max Mirnyi, of Belarus, blasted his way past George Bastl of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1.

OPEN RESULTS AND SCHEDULE YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Singles First round Guillermo Canas, Argentina d Marcelo Craca, Germany, 6-3, 6-3 Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, d Fredrik Jonsson, Sweden, 7-6, 6-2 Jared Palmer, US, d Paulo Taicher, Brazil 6-3, 6-0 Lucas Arnold, Argentina d Razvan Sabau, Romania, 7-5, 7-6 Tomas Behrend, Germany, d Ricardo Schlachter, Brazil, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 Max Mirnyi, Belarus, d George Bastl, Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1 Karsten Braasch, Germany, d Alex O'Brien, US, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 Stefan Koubek, Austria, d Tomas Zib, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4 Doubles First round Alejandro Hernandez and Christiano Testa d Brandon Coupe and Mark Merklein 6-1, 6-3 TODAY'S SCHEDULE Centre court Richey Reneberg, US, v Mariano Hood, Argentina, 11.00 a.m.

Paul Kilderry, Australia v Hernan Gumy, Argentina, not before 1.00 p.m., followed by Thomas Larsen, Denmark v Johan Van Herck, Belgium Lapentti/Lapentti, Ecuador v Braasch/Dier, Germany, not before 6.30 p.m., followed by Jiri Vanek, Czech Republic, v Christophe Rochus, Belgium Court Seven Ville Liukko, Finland, v Attila Savolt, Hungary, 11.00 a.m., followed by Dirk Dier, Germany, v Marcelo Filippini, Uruguay, followed by Bale/Stafford, South Africa v Bastl, Switzerland and Liukko, Finland Court Five Luis Adrian Morejon, Ecuador, v Nicolas Massu, Chile, 11.00 a.m., followed by Alejandro Hernandez, Mexico, v Maurice Ruah, Venezuela, followed by Massu, Chile, and Savolt, Hungary v Arnold/Hood, Argentina Photos by Tony Cordeiro Winning style: Bermuda Open first round winners Lucas Arnold (above), who ground out a 7-5, 7-6 triumph over Razvan Sabau, and top seed Nicolas Lapentti (below), who beat Fredrik Jonsson 7-6, 6-2, in action at Coral Beach yesterday.