Marat Safin admitted he was still struggling with his confidence despite battling to a first-round win over Italian qualifier Fabio Fognini at the Estoril Open on Tuesday.
The former world number one suffered a debilitating knee injury last year that kept him out of the game for seven months.
"I'm here, I'm trying to play and win as many matches as possible," said the 26-year-old after overcoming the world number 314 6-1, 6-4 on the Portuguese clay.
"There was so much wind, it was tough to play good tennis," said
Safin.
"I was lucky to win in straight sets. I'm having trouble getting my confidence back. But I'm working hard and trying to do it."
Safin, once top of the world rankings and with Grand Slam titles
at the US Open and last year's Australian Open to his credit,
currently stands 49th in the world and next faces eager compatriot Nikolay Davydenko, the second seed.
Safin was joined in the second round by compatriot Dmitry Tursunov, the fifth seed who ousted Gaston Elias of Portugal 6-2, 6-1.
Top seed David Nalbandian hit the court running 24 hours after
arriving from Argentina and fought through into the second round
over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-5.
Nalbandian's last trip here ended with a title against Finn Jarkko Nieminen in 2002. He next faces a lucky loser from qualifying.
Former champion Carlos Moya eased to an opening-round victory over Flavio Saretta 6-3, 6-4.
French teenager Gael Monfils, who lost two of his first three clay matches this year, got on track with a win over Romanian Razvan Sabau 6-1, 6-2.
