Moya will now play fellow Spaniard and another former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in a heavyweight second round clash after Ferrero saved a match point to beat dangerous Cypriot youngster Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.
Reigning champion and ninth seed Juan Ignacio Chela failed to get past the first hurdle as the Argentinian suffered a shock 6-1, 6-2 defeat by lucky loser Juan Antonio Marin of Costa Rica.
Moya, who briefly topped the rankings in 1999 after winning the 1998 French Open, blazed through the first eight games and served for the match at 5-4 but lost his serve.
It proved only a minor blip, however, as he sealed his progress to the second round in the tiebreak.
"It's a little bit a matter of confidence," the 28-year-old world number nine said. "I was against the wind and it was not easy in those conditions.
"I wanted to finish it there and then but I couldn't. I didn't get frustrated and when it went to a tiebreak I thought I could win. It was a difficult match in the second set."
Ferrero, who is playing himself back into form after a terrible 2004, was feeling the effects of a tough week in Barcelona, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in the final, as he laboured to beat Baghdatis.
The 2003 French Open champion saved two break points at 5-5 in the third set and then Baghdatis dumped a forehand into the net on match point before double faulting to hand Ferrero victory.
Ferrero said: "I'm tired from the last two weeks because I played a lot of matches and it is just two days since the final in Barcelona which was a really tough match."
Seventh seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic joined Chela as a seeded casualty, losing 7-6, 6-1 to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Women's top seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy was also packing her bags after a surprise 6-3, 7-6 defeat by qualifier Olga Savchuk of the Ukraine.
