Bjorkman, Johansson Thrill Homies at ATP Stockholm

"I think he was a little bit jet-lagged. He seemed a little bit slow," Bjorkman said. "I tried to make him run a lot today...I had not played a match for nine days since my win in Vietnam. I was really inspired and almost too aggressive on my returns of serve."

Seeded winners on the day were (1) Thomas Johansson (d. Spadea), (4) Mario Ancic (d. Beck), (5) Olivier Rochus (d. (Q) Niemeyer), and (7) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Massu).

"In the second set, I let Spadea step in which forced me to run more," Johansson said of the sporadic American. "He plays unbelievably fast. Sometimes a high loose ball can be better than a powerful backhand against him. I am happy to have reached this far and hope to be even more aggressive in the next match."

Unseeded players advancing were Italian Davide Sanguinetti (d. (Q) Bastl from a set down), German lucky loser Alexander Waske (d. Behrend), and Belgians Christophe Rochus (d. Acasuso in three) and Xavier Malisse (d. Monaco).

On tap for Thursday in Stockholm are (5) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. (LL) Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau, (LL) Waske vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (6) Blake vs. Christophe "The Other Roach" Rochus, (WC) Bjorkman vs. (4) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, (Q) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler vs. (7) Nieminen, and Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. A.Martin.