Kuala Lumpur  - The French pair of Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet overcame jet lag to move into the second round of the Malaysian Open Wednesday as both advanced with ease.

Fifth seed Monfils, winner of the second tennis title of his career last weekend in Metz, France, had to travel long and hard to reach Asia, but started his campaign over Kazak Denis Istomin 7-6 (7-
3), 7-6 (7-2).

Gasquet crushed Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-2 while 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis again failed to put two match wins together, with the Cypriot losing to Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-3 to exit the second round.

Paris  - As Richard Gasquet progresses into the quarter-finals at the ATP event in Metz, his legal campaign to clear his name on cocaine drug-test charges received a minor setback when a lawsuit filed on his behalf was rejected by a court.

French prosecutors in Paris have knocked back the action by lawyers for the number-47 Frenchman as he further attempts to restore his good name in the sport.

Paris - Relieved Richard Gasquet refuses to be stressed as the International Tennis Federation appeals his exoneration on charges he tested positive for a miniscule amount of cocaine in Miami last spring.

Only a few weeks after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne allowed him to return to the game, the ITF struck back, dissatisfied with the leniency.

The French 23-year-old, ranked 37th, escaped from a potential one-year-ban as the tennis ruling body pronounced a sanction of two- and-a-half months, which was counted as already served.

Paris - Richard Gasquet, facing a two-year ban for a positive drugs test in March after testing positive at the Miami Masters, said Friday he might have come into contact with cocaine at a party before the event which he did not play due to injury.

The under-fire Frenchman told French radio Europe 1 that a person he did not identify had offered him the drug but he had refused.

Paris - French tennis player Richard Gasquet was Monday suspended by the International Tennis Federation while it probes a positive test for cocaine at the Miami Masters last March.

The move came a day after the player admitted that he had tested positive.

"The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009, during the Miami tournament where I did not participate, confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day," the Gasquet said in a statement.

Paris  - French tennis player Richard Gasquet was expected to comment on Sunday on reports that he failed a drugs test for cocaine at the Miami Masters in March.

French sports daily L'Equipe said on Saturday night that the 22- year-old, who lost in the third round of Rome last week, had traces of the drug in his urine sample.

The number 23 pulled out of Miami with a shoulder injury and out of this week's Estoril tournament with a neck problem. Gasquet will also miss the Madrid Masters.

Monte Carlo - French hope Richard Gasquet will miss his second straight major event as he skips the Monte Carlo Open starting on Sunday with the right shoulder injury that earlier kept him out of Miami. The world number 23 has been bothered with the problem since beginning his 2009 ATP season in the zone with semi-final showings in Brisbane, Sydney and Dubai during a memorable January.

Brisbane, Australia  - France fell to a double disaster Saturday on the men's side of the Brisbane International, with both Paul-Henri Mathieu and Richard Gasquet crashing out at the semi-final stage.

Third seed Fernando Verdasco, hero of Spain's Davis Cup final over Argentina in November, dispatched Mathieu 6-2, 6-1, while notoriously irritating Czech Radek Stepanek wore down seventh seed Richard Gasquet 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Paris - Frenchman Richard Gasquet withdrew on the opening day of the Paris Masters on Sunday, citing an elbow injury.

The 14th-seeded Gasquet will be replaced in the draw at the Bercy arena by a lucky loser from qualifying rounds.

Gasquet qualified for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shangahi last year, but with a standing of 19th in the race for this year's edition in China, Gasquet was out of the running for the eight-player event. dpa