Nieminen won 10 straight games in routing Mehdi Ziadi of Morocco 6-1, 6-1. Nieminen prepared for his Casablanca debut by winning a challenger two weeks ago in Marrakech, which bumped him back inside the top 100 world rankings.
Serra beat 2004 champion Santiago Ventura of Spain 6-4, 6-3, ensuring a new champion for the 17th straight year.
Ventura landed only half of his first serves, hit seven double-faults, and was duly broken five times.
Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic, wild card Reda El Amrani of Morocco, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, and Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Stephane Robert also moved into the next round.
Hajek ousted sixth-seeded Simon Greul of Germany 7-6 (3), 6-4 for the second time this year, and El Amrani pleased the home crowd by outlasting Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4) for his first win on the main ATP World Tour.
Greul wasted nine break chances while Hajek converted five out of six.
Gabashvili won more points than El Amrani (118 to 117), but the Moroccan made the difference in the tiebreakers of the 2-hour, 40-minute match.
Clement beat Spanish qualifier Ivan Navarro 6-3, 6-3, Golubev defeated Daniel Koellerer of Austria 6-2, 7-6 (5), and Robert edged Stefan Koubek of Austria 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
Clement, an Australian Open finalist in 2001, won all of his service games and broke Navarro three times, while Golubev rallied from 4-2 down in the tiebreaker to clinch the match.
In the second round, Hajek will face El Amrani, Nieminen will play third-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania, the eighth-seeded Serra will meet Stephane Robert of France, and Clement will take on fourth-seeded Lukasz Kubot of Poland.
Odesnik tops Janowicz
In Houston, American Wayne Odesnik, playing for the first time since pleading guilty to importing human growth hormone into Australia, beat the 19-year-old Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-3, 6-4 in the first-round of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships on Monday.
Odesnik pleaded guilty late last month to taking HGH into Australia. He was fined $7,200 and could be banned by the ATP.
Although the players shook hands following the match, Janowicz said he didn’t like playing against Odesnik.
“I think it is unfair to do something like this,” Janowicz said.
“It’s a misunderstanding because for me, he shouldn’t be playing at this moment. He should be suspended. There are bad feelings right now. He shouldn’t play and right now I’m playing with this guy. It’s tough to play with that kind of guy.”
Odesnik declined comment, citing the ATP investigation into his case. He said he would have a statement on Tuesday.
“I’m doing the only thing I can do right now and that is focus on my tennis,” Odesnik said. “I’ve worked extremely hard. I’m looking forward to the clay court season. That’s where I usually excel.”
Asked if he had support from other players, he said, “I don’t know, I’m just trying to play tennis.”
Odesnik, a finalist in the tournament last year, was in charge early until late in the second set when Janowicz broke Odesnik’s serve in the eighth game.
Janowicz, playing in his third ATP event, fought off two match points before his backhand sailed long in the 10th game to end the match.
Top-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile drew a first-round bye and will play on Wednesday.
Odesnik had little trouble with his young opponent in the first set. Janowicz, who relies heavily on his serve, struggled to serve well.
Janowicz fought off his first match point in the seventh game and held on a pair of backhand errors by Odesnik to finish the game. Odesnik missed a chance to end it at the second match point when he chased down a drop shot, but hit an easy shot into the net.
