Top seed Gustavo Kuerten defeated Argentine clay-courter Guillermo Coria 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 today to begin the defence of his French Open title.
The Brazilian was in imperious form on a sun-drenched Centre Court, firing winners from both wings on his way to the second round. He blitzed his fellow south American in the opening set with a succession of winners from the back of the court before Coria found his range.
But Kuerten's armoury was still too strong for the consistent 19-year-old, and the defending champion next meets another Argentine, Agustin Calleri, who beat Dutchman John van Lottum 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 today.
Also in the men’s first round, Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov racked up his 500th career win, with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Italian Federico Luzzi.
The number seven seed, champion at Roland Garros in 1996, immediately sounded a warning to in-form Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero, the tournament favourites.
"I know what I'm capable of," Kafelnikov said. "It's really just a question of confidence. I know I belong in the top 10 on any surface and even though I have suffered sometimes on clay it was here that I won my prestigious Grand Slam tournament.
In the women’s competition, Yugoslav teen Jelena Dokic gave warning she is ready to take on the big hitters on the slow red clay of Roland Garros with a 6-0, 6-0 crushing of Czech Adriana Gersi in her opening match.
"I think this is the surface to beat them on," said the 15th-seeded Dokic, who won her first WTA Tour title on clay in Rome eight days ago and sped through in just 39 minutes against a hopelessly outclassed rival.
But French fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo suffered a shock defeat when she lost 7-5, 7-5 to unseeded German Jana Kandarr in the first round.
Mauresmo, winner of four tournaments this season and one of the favourites for the title, was booed off the Centre Court by her home crowd after throwing away a 5-1 lead in the second set to become the first seed knocked out of the tournament.
Reuters