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French Open PHOTOS: Ivanovic totters into Rnd 2
Former champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia survived a second-set collapse to beat Croatian Petra Martic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and reach the second round of the French Open on Sunday.
Serbian 14th seed Ivanovic, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2008, breezed through the opening set but dropped serve in the fourth game of the second on a chilly Parisian morning.
Martic levelled the tie with a smash, only for the world number 107 to collapse early in the decider on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Ivanovic showed signs of nerves too as she closed in on victory, losing three games in a row and wasting four match points.
She prevailed on the fifth occasion, though, when Martic sent a backhand long after one hour 50 minutes.
Next up for Ivanovic is either France's Mathilde Johansson or South African Chanelle Scheepers.
Top seed Serena romps into second round
Top seed Serena Williams beat Anna Tatishvili 6-0 6-1 to emphatically book her place in the second round of the French Open and avoid last year's embarrassment of an opening-round exit.
The American, whose only singles title at Roland Garros came in 2002, entered the tournament on a 24-match winning streak and showed no signs of taking her foot off the gas as she steamrollered the 83rd-ranked Georgian in 51 minutes.
Williams, chasing a 16th Grand Slam title, looked ominously athletic as she wrapped up victory in an unseasonably chilly Paris, putting to bed the memory of her only first round loss at a grand slam, last year's exit to France's Virgine Razzano.
After her opponent sent a forehand wide on match point, she waved to all four sides of the stadium before embarking on the greater test of conducting the courtside interview in French.
"I am very happy, this year I am playing very well, but you never know," the 31-year-old said.
Federer cruises past Spanish debutant
Roger Federer made light work of Spanish debutant Pablo Carreno-Busta to reach the second round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory.
The second-seeded Swiss, who is two shy of Wayne Ferreira's record of 56 consecutive Grand Slam appearances, never looked in danger on Court Philippe Chatrier, wrapping it up with an exquisite backhand winner straight down the line.
He will face another qualifier, either Spain's Daniel Munoz-De La Nava or Indian Somdev Devvarman, for a place in the third round.
Federer, who made his Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros in a four-set defeat against third seed Pat Rafter in 1999, served 10 aces and managed 11 forehand winners in an 80-minute masterclass.
The 21-year-old Carreno-Busta, who won seven Futures tournaments in a row earlier this year, broke once in the opening set but showed too little of his talent to make a contest of the match.
Simon survives dogfight with old warrior Hewitt
Gilles Simon became the first Frenchman into the second round at Roland Garros but the 15th seed scraped through the hard way after surrendering the opening two sets to Australian former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Home favourite Simon battled back to win 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 although he looked like capitulating late on when old warrior Hewitt won five games in a row from 5-0 behind in the decider.
Simon, one of six Frenchmen seeded at this year's championships, screamed at himself to "relax" as Hewitt silenced the crowd on a chilly Suzanne Lenglen court by breezing through the opening two sets.
He finally loosened his shoulders and with 32-year-old Hewitt beginning to look leg-weary, Simon was strolling to victory when he opened up a large lead in the fifth set.
No French player has won the men's singles at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983 and with each passing year that statistic weighs a little more heavily on the current crop led by sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and the 28-year-old Simon.
When he squandered two match points, one when his string snapped and the other when Hewitt got lucky with a net cord, the tension was mounting again, especially with Hewitt's reputation for revelling in five-set dogfights.
For a while the straight-jacket that appeared to be fastened round Simon for the first two sets returned but he recovered some composure from 5-5 and completed his first career victory from a two-set deficit when Hewitt netted a forehand.