Second-seeded Tim Henman of Britain overcame fatigue to beat Anthony Dupuis of France 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the $US1.25 million ($A1.68 million) Swiss Indoors.

Henman, who is still seeking enough points to secure a berth in the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston on November 15, has been taking magnesium supplements since blood tests showed he had a deficiency.

Olympic doubles gold medalist Fernando Gonzalez, seeded eighth, lost to qualifier Jerome Haehnel of France 6-3, 6-4. Haehnel eliminated Andre Agassi in the first round of the French Open and then won his first career title earlier this month at the Open de Moselle in Metz, France.

Also, fourth-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina downed Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-4, 6-3; seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu of Chile topped Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2; Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia defeated Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina 6-3, 6-4; and Wesley Moodie of South Africa beat Potito Starace of Italy 6-4, 6-4.

Henman controlled from the start despite his fatigue, breaking Dupuis to go ahead 3-1 in the opening set, then again to lead 4-3 in the second. It was Henman's third win in as many matches against Dupuis.

"I feel I got my energy back," Henman said.

"I'll just keep my fingers crossed. I don't know if it's the pills or just resting and recharging my batteries.

"It's difficult to judge. I just know last week I was drained just warming up and now I feel much better," said Henman, who crashed out in the third round of last week's Madrid Masters.

Henman was knocked from sixth to seventh in the race for Houston, following Marat Safin's victory in the Spanish capital. The Briton, without a title this year, is looking to increase his points as well as his confidence before the defence of his Paris Masters trophy next week.

Four of the eight places at the Houston event have already been locked up, with Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio guaranteed spots.

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