MOSCOW -- Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was incredibly fortunate to extend his five-year unbeaten run at the $2.2 million Kremlin Cup tennis tournament on Tuesday.

The second-seeded Kafelnikov took seven of the last eight points in the deciding tiebreaker as the five-time defending champion finally got past Belarussian wild card Vladimir Voltchkov in the first round, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), after two hours, 42 minutes.

In the women's draw, a pair of Russian wild cards reached the second round. The popular Anna Kournikova defeated Swiss qualifier Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian, 6-4, 6-3, and Dinara Safina -- the sister of men's top seed Marat Safin -- upset No. 7 Silvia Farina Elia of Italy 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

The 28-year-old Kafelnikov, who is considering retirement, beat Voltchkov for the second time in three weeks. He also stopped him in the Tashkent final to win his second title of the year.

"I did not want to lose this match by any means, so the emotional level was very high," Kafelnikov said. "It was already a very close match in Tashkent, so he knew that he had his chances to win today."

The Sochi native was up two breaks at 4-1 in the final set, but Voltchkov came storming back and forced the tiebreaker, where he won the first three points and held serve but failed to take advantage.

"He's a very experienced player and the crowd was rooting for him," Voltchkov said. "But at the end of the match I heard someone shouting, 'Voltchkov, Voltchkov,' and that motivated me to fight even harder."

Kafelnikov has not lost here since falling to Goran Ivanisevic in the 1996 title match. He improved to 36-6 lifetime at the Kremlin Cup and is trying to become the first men's player to win a tournament six years in a row in the Open Era (since 1968).

The lone seed to fall Tuesday was Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian. Germany's Rainer Schuettler knocked off the eighth-seeded Argentine 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

"I like to play indoors and this is a good win," Schuettler said. "(David) was in the Wimbledon final, so he can play well on fast courts. I was lucky to win the first set. That was the key of the match."

Seventh-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals, rallied to beat Switzerland's Marc Rosset 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman also came from behind to beat Belarus' Max Mirnyi 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, and Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic defeated Morocco's Younes El Aynaoui 6-4, 6-3.

A pair of French qualifiers won their respective opening-round contests. Cyril Saulnier eased past Italy's Davide Sanguinetti 6-4, 6-1, and Paul-Henri Mathieu rallied past Spain's Tommy Robredo 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-2

In other men's action, German qualifier Nicolas Kiefer defeated Russian wild card Andrei Stoliarov 6-1, 6-4.

Wayne Ferreira of South Africa outdueled Fernando Vicente of Spain 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, and Andre Sa of Brazil battled past Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

In an all-Russian encounter on the women's side, wild card Elena Bovina saved three match points and rallied past qualifier Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.

Also, Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat qualifier Libuse Prusova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4; Nathalie Dechy of France posted a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece; and lucky loser Maja Matevzic of Slovenia eliminated Rita Grande of Italy 6-4, 7-5.

Venus Williams of the United States headlines the women's draw. She is playing her first event since losing her third straight Grand Slam final to younger sister Serena at the U.S. Open. She is second to her sibling for the WTA Tour lead in titles with seven.

Fellow American Jennifer Capriati was seeded second but withdrew Sunday. She is suffering from a sore throat and fever.

Lindsay Davenport of the United States filled Capriati's spot in the draw, while Amelie Mauresmo of France took over the fourth seed. Williams, Davenport, Mauresmo and third seed and defending champion Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia received first-round byes.

The men's winner of this indoor event collects $182,000 while the women's champion earns $133,000.