Juan Martin del Potro's quest for an unlikely spot in the ATP World Tour Finals gathered pace as he beat Portugal's Joao Sousa in his Basel opener.
The fourth seed defeated Sousa 6-1 4-6 6-1 and has his eyes on a third title at the Swiss event.
Del Potro previously lifted the Basel trophy in 2012 and 2013 - beating home favourite and eight-time winner Roger Federer in both of those finals.
And Del Potro, who only started his 2017 season in late February after a wrist injury, is making a late charge for a spot at next month's ATP Finals in London, having won the Stockholm Open last weekend.
If Pablo Carreno Busta loses his second-round match in Vienna on Friday against Del Potro's fellow Argentine Diego Schwartzman, the South American would move into the eighth and final qualifying spot for the year-end tournament.
Del Potro wasted no time in getting on top of the 60th-ranked Sousa, winning the first six points and breaking three times en route to winning the opening set.
Sousa was much-improved in the second as he started a comeback, finally breaking Del Potro before serving out the set to force a decider.
But Del Potro again found top form in the final set, cruising to victory by firing a trademark forehand winner on his second match point.
He next faces Julien Benneteau of France, who saw off American Donald Young 6-4 6-2.
"Tomorrow I need to play better for sure if I want to stay here longer," said World No 19 Del Potro.
"But, after all of my wrist problems, this is good for me.
"I have to manage my body after all of my matches. But, over the last few weeks, I feel I have the power to play a lot.
"I have a tough match against Benneteau but I really want to play Federer again in his hometown, that is always a great moment for me.
"Against Benneteau, I need to return well, serve better, hit my forehand hard and keep the ball in the court - all that will give me a chance to win."
There are still enough tournaments for players to compile points to boost their qualification hopes - click here for the full run-down of Sky Sports events.
Sky Sports has all the action from the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and Swiss Indoors Basel this week before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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