Gstaad, Switzerland - Nicolas Kiefer won his first match of the summer clay season on Tuesday, then called for former surprise Wimbledon semi-finalist Rainer Schuettler to be given a late place on the German Olympic team. Kiefer, 31, and the 32-year-old Schuettler, lifted silver four years ago in Athens, losing the final to Chileans Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez.
Schuettler rode a seam of new-found form into the final four at Wimbledon last week, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
After dispatching Italian Gianluca Naso 6-3, 6-2 to move into the second round of the Allianz Suisse Open, Kiefer put in a plea to bring Schuettler back into the Olympic fold.
"The deadline passed last week, but Rainer really deserves a place," said Kiefer, ranked 32nd and playing in Gstaad for the first time in eight years.
"I hope things can be reconsidered and he comes with us to Beijing. We can then decide who should play doubles.
"I'd love to play with Rainer again, we would be ready to have another try at the gold. "
In other results, German qualifier Dominik Meffert booked a second-round spot alongside Kiefer, beating last year's losing finalist Andreas Seppi of Italy, the fifth seed, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Romanian Victor Hanescu won his second Gstaad match after claiming his first in 2004, defeating Frenchman Olivier Patience 7-6 (7-4), 6- 2.
Jeremy Chardy of France defeated Peruvian Luis Horna 7-6 (7-5), 6- 7 (8-10), 7-5.
Kiefer said that he was inspired - but not surprised - by Schuettler's performance at Wimbledon, where his game came together after nine months of slowly battling his way back from illness and injury.
"I'm happy for him, he's a hard worker," said Kiefer, who missed 12 months of play after suffering a wrist injury in spring, 2006, at Roland Garros.
"He's still competitive and he's maybe showed some of the younger players how it is to fight and come back."
Kiefer fired seven aces in his 78-minute win over qualifier Naso, a win which came in the wake of a third-round at Wimbledon for the German.
"I have been here since Friday, so I have adjusted to the (800-metre) altitude, but of course there's a difference between practise and playing."
Kiefer ran his match record this season to 15-12 at the event where he got one of the first wild cards of his career ten years ago.
Swiss top seed Stan Wawrinka goes into action on Wednesday,taking one the winner from countrymen Robin Roshardt and Stephane Bohli.
