Paris: David Nalbandian made a winning start to the Paris Masters Series tournament with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Nicolas Almagro on Sunday.

A week after claiming his first Masters Series title with a shock win over world No.1 Roger Federer in the Madrid final, Argentine Nalbandian showed more composure when it mattered to brush aside Almagro.

A break in the seventh game set up the world No. 18, who later underlined his determination by winning a service game to love to take the set after 41 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern, Nalbandian again breaking his opponent to move 4-3 up and staying on top until sealing victory with a drop shot on the first match point.

Nalbandian goes on to meet another Spaniard in Carlos Moya, the 14th seed, with the winner of that match likely to face a third-round encounter with Federer.

Frenchman Gilles Simon beat Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the only other first-round match.

The Paris indoor event has suffered in the last few years from the absence of big names but nearly all are here this year.

Swiss Federer, who last appeared at the Bercy hall in 2003, leads a strong field featuring 19 of the world’s top 20 players, with Andy Roddick missing.

Federer, who won the Swiss Indoors final in his hometown Basel on Sunday to make sure he will finish the season as world No. 1 for a fourth consecutive year, has a first-round bye like all 16 seeds.

At stake at the last tournament of the regular season, starting on a Sunday for the first time, are the two remaining spots for the November 11-18 Masters Cup in Shanghai. (Reuters)