Two of the biggest attractions in men's tennis, Andre
Agassi and US Open champion Marat Safin, both moved into the second round of the French Open singles in Paris today.
Las Vegan Agassi, the 1999 winner here and third seed as well as ATP Champions Race leader, swatted Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) while number two seed Marat Safin of Russia also mastered the baking hot conditions to beat Austrian Markus Hipfl 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-1 in 2hr 14min.
Among women moving through was US fourth seed and Australian Open champion Jennifer Capriati, who ousted Emilie Loit of France 6-2, 7-5 in 65min.
The French were consoled by an effervescent Sandrine Testud, the 17th seed, who thrashed 106th-ranked Dawn Buth of the United States 6-1, 6-1 in 58min.
In other early men's action, Spaniard Carlos Moya showed glimpses of the kind of form which led him to the 1998 title here as he ground compatriot Feliciano Lopez into the red dust 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in just an hour and a quarter, winning 91 percent of his first service points.
Tommy Haas of Germany thrashed Jerome Golmard of France 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 while Sargis Sargsian of Armenia also moved on when Norwegian opponent Christian Ruud retired injured with a back injury with Sargsian leading 6-1, 3-1.
AFP