Home star Florian Mayer enjoyed victory over Austrian qualifier Martin Fischer at the Gerry Weber Open grass court tournament in Halle, Germany.
The number eight seed and Davis Cup player won 6-2 6-2 in just under an hour to progress to the second round.
Another qualifier Jan Hernych fared better as German Daniel Brands, who gave French Open winner Rafael Nadal a scare in the first round at Roland Garros, was swept aside 6-4 6-2.
One of last year’s beaten semi-finalists Mikhail Youzhny will meet fourth seed Kei Nishikori in the second round after beating Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
German wildcard Mischa Zverev recovered from dropping the first set to David Goffin to win 1-6 6-4 7-5.
Last year’s winner Tommy Haas and runner-up Roger Federer, who both received byes into the second round, teamed up as a doubles pairing for the first time but their fledging partnership lasted only 68 minutes.
They were beaten 7-6 6-4 by Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner.
Defending champions and top seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer were knocked out in three sets by Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
