Roger Federer was made to battle for the upper hand against Brazilian Marcos Daniel as he began the defence of his Thailand Open title, hurling his racquet to the ground in frustration before winning 7-6 6-4.

Lleyton Hewitt also struggled to overcome a dogged opponent before reaching the second round.

Federer's frustration was understandable as 133rd-ranked Daniel refused to be intimidated by the stature of his opponent and rallied well from the baseline.

At one stage the Swiss world No.1 came within two points of allowing Daniel to serve for the opening set, and he had to wait until his eighth break point before a backhand volley error from Daniel at 5-5 gave him the first break of the match.

Even then he dropped his own serve, and just one mini-break - on the first point of the tiebreak - decided the set in Federer's favour.

Several break points also went begging in the second set, before Federer finally claimed victory on his third match point.

Second seed Hewitt, playing his first match since losing to Federer in the semi-finals of the US Open, survived an enterprising challenge from Czech Lukas Dlouhy to win 6-3 3-6 7-5.

The Australian appeared set for a runaway victory as he swept to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but once Dlouhy settled he offered a real challenge.

"I probably played the tighter points a bit better than he did out there," said Hewitt, who admitted he had difficulty adjusting to playing indoors after the US Open.

"Everything felt very different out there today, and it was just a question of trying to get through that match.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP