during the second day of competition at the XL Tennis Classic.

How about A Long Day's Journey Into Night or My Right Hamstring ? Or maybe something with a Parisian flavour.

No matter what, no one put on a better performance than Mikael Pernfors (Sweden) did last night on his way to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 first round singles knockout victory over Paul Annacone (US).

Pernfors, ranked 32nd in the world and top seed of the Bermuda tournament, dazzled the several hundred fans in attendance at Coral Beach and Tennis Club on a chilly night, providing a big sigh of relief for organisers on a day which saw three of the competition's top singles seeds bounced and the fourth-ranked doubles pair ousted.

The Swedish sensation and fan favourite needed to take an antacid to help settle an upset stomach during the second game of the second set of his match, but it was the elimination of seeds two (Aaron Krickstein), three (David Wheaton) and four (Carsten Braasch) which gave many in attendance a queasy feeling.

Krickstein, ranked 45th on the ATP charts, was hobbled by a pulled hamstring muscle in his right leg suffered on Monday and put together a largely lacklustre performance in the 6-3, 6-2 straight sets loss to Nicolas Pereira of Venezuela.

"I really didn't know if I was going to be able to go out there, to tell you the truth,'' said a disappointed Krickstein in the clubhouse following the match. "No one in the crowd could tell, but I couldn't run very well. I probably shouldn't have played the match at all.'' Pereira, ranked 149th and coming off the best earnings year of his career ($116,490), set the tone early by jumping off to a 2-0 lead in the first set.

However, the crowd was behind Krickstein all the way.

"He played a good match, I'm not taking anything away from him,'' said Krickstein. "With everyone behind me and wanting me to come back I knew it was going to be hard for me.'' The cold and damp conditions only made matters worse for the handsome American, but Pereira seemed to get hotter as the temperatures got cooler.

"I guess the Bermuda people and the Island have made a good influence on me,'' said Pereira. "I really feel comfortable here. I'm really enjoying every minute of it. I guess that influenced my state of mind and made me play better.'' Pernfors was able to gain the upper hand in his match over Annacone late in the first set, which was sparked by an exciting tie-breaker.

"This is not really Paul's best surface (clay) so I knew from the beginning things would be okay,'' said Pernfors. "And then I think in the second set I kind of calmed down a little bit and worked the points over a little bit better.'' The day's matches on Centre Court were marathon affairs and forced the lone doubles match to be shifted to the evening programme.

Gerard Solves (France) upset the XL Classic's third seed David Wheaton 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) in a two-and-a-half hour barn-burner, followed by another two-hour plus showdown between Patrick McEnroe and Jared Palmer. The next match -- Daniel Orsanic (Argentina) and Braasch (Germany) -- began shortly after 4 p.m. and did not end until 6.15 p.m.

Ranked 159th, Solves stood as tall as the Eiffel Tower in dominating Wheaton, ranked 54th, during the first set, not allowing him to win more than two games in a row until the fourth and fifth games of the second set.

That is when Wheaton began turning the pressure on the unilingual Francophone and proceeded to rattle off seven wins in a row before Solves got suddenly found his range again.

"I was a little bit tired,'' said Solves later, wearing an ear-to-ear grin.

"He played very good. He took me by the throat.

"I like to play in these conditions,'' he added. "It's a good court, good weather, good players and good public.

"I beat some players at this level because when I play in these conditions I can play a good game.'' Solves hopes his luck continues for him when he faces David Witt (US) in the second round.

McEnroe, the tournament's fifth seed and ranked 72nd, staved off elimination in a taut struggle against American Jared Palmer.

Easily the most recognisable name in the tournament, McEnroe jumped off to a 6-4 win in the first set but was shut down 3-6 in the second by a stubborn Palmer. At one point Palmer, ranked 104, won eight of nine games and it looked like the end of the line for McEnroe.

"It was just a question of me kind of hanging in there,'' said McEnroe, who now meets David Rikl (Czech Republic) in the next round. Results, Schedule, Page 26.

KROON CRUNCH -- The success Niclas Kroon has enjoyed in the XL Classic came to an end -- at least in singles play -- yesterday when he was defeated by Alex O'Brien. The Swede will now team up with Mikael Pernfors in second round doubles play later this week.