MADRID - Fernando Gonzalez and Marcelo Rios made it a Chilean double while Alex Corretja safely avoided a potential upset against fellow Spaniard Fernando Vicente as the Madrid Masters began at a cracking pace Monday.

Gonzalez, one of the rising stars of the men's game, outclassed Andre Sa of Brazil to win 6-3 6-2 in 66 minutes and provide the first victory at the indoor tournament, which has a new home after Madrid acquired the rights from Stuttgart.

Former world number one Rios matched his countryman with a convincing 6-2 6-2 success against Gaston Gaudio of Argentina before the Spaniards took center stage.

Tommy Robredo blasted past Max Mirnyi of Belarus, who finished as runner-up to Tommy Haas in last year's final in Stuttgart, 6-4 6-4 to book a second-round clash with the Czech Republic's Jiri Novak.

The unseeded Corretja then came through a messy patch midway through the second set to beat Vicente 6-4 7-5.

Over on court number one, Finland's Jarkko Nieminen recovered from a terrible start to beat Rainer Schuettler of Germany 1-6 6-4 7-6.

DIGGING DEEP

Magnus Norman had to dig even deeper for victory over Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta, the Swede eventually running out a 6-7 7-6 6-2 winner.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny had no such trouble beating another Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2 6-2.

There was one success for Argentina, with qualifier Agustin Calleri overcoming a shaky start to see off the American James Blake 6-4 6-2.

Calleri will go on to face Marat Safin, the number three seed from Russia.

In the battle of the two French qualifiers, Fabrice Santoro beat Julien Boutter 6-3 7-6.

The tournament, which will have a major say in the race for the six places still up for grabs in the Masters Cup in Shanghai, was without its leading lights on the first day, with all 16 seeds given byes through to the second round.

There was still plenty of quality on show on both main courts, though, as Rios and Norman continued on the comeback trail and Gonzalez, Youzhny and Robredo maintained their progress.

Rios made light of the knee injury that has blighted his season, running his opponent round the court in a performance that will come as a real confidence boost to the Chilean.

"My knee is still a little sore but now it's getting better," Rios said. "Physically, I felt good, even though I didn't train much before this tournament."

Also looking fit was Norman, who was struggling with a hip injury earlier this season but managed to find reserves of strength to win a dramatic tussle with Zabaleta.

POWER PLAY

Gonzalez's success against Sa was based on his powerful serve and booming groundstrokes.

The Chilean broke early, improved to 5-2 and clinched the first set with a service winner down the middle.

A break in game five of the second then sent the 22-year-old on to victory and a second-round match with Spanish eighth seed Carlos Moya.

"I felt great during that match," Gonzalez said. "My serve was very good and I was returning better than I had been.

"The game against Moya is going to be tough. He's one of the best players in the world now."

Corretja's reward for victory over Vicente will be a clash with Russian number nine seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

"It just shows you how strong these Masters tournaments are," Corretja said.

"Kafelnikov has a good serve and he knows what he's doing but I think I have a chance."