Sloppy Federer labours through first match

Tennis: Roger Federer made hard work of his opening match at the French Open on Sunday before claiming an error-strewn 7-5 7…

Tennis: Roger Federer made hard work of his opening match at the French Open on Sunday before claiming an error-strewn 7-5 7-6 6-2 victory over Argentine qualifier Diego Hartfield.

The world number one and top seed has not played since his Rome Masters final defeat by Rafael Nadal two weeks ago and trailed 3-0 in the first set before eventually subduing an opponent playing his first match at tour level.

Also in the French Open, Spaniard Tommy Robredo beat Czech Tomas Zib 6-4 6-2 6-2 to reach the second round earlier in the day.

Seventh seed Robredo, who won the Hamburg Masters last weekend, wrapped up his opener in two hours against the world number 109.

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Robredo has never made it past the quarter-finals in a grand slam. He reached that stage twice, each time at Roland Garros. Last year he was denied a semi-final berth by Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Britain's Tim Henman also made it through the first round after beating Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-4.