Tennis: Serena Williams into French Open second round
Serena Williams beat Andrea Hlavackova 6-2 6-3 in the French Open on Tuesday.
PARIS (Agencies) - Serena Williams made a strong start to her quest to regain the French Open title with a confident first-round victory over Andrea Hlavackova.
World number one Williams - who won the clay-court grand slam for the second time in 2013 - came through 6-2 6-3 on Philippe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros.
It was a powerful display from Williams, who allayed concerns sparked by her withdrawal from the Internazionali d Italia with fatigue and an elbow complaint to set up a second-round clash with Anna-Lena Friedsam, who beat Alexa Glatch.
Williams is joined in the second round by fourth seed Petra Kvitova and fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Kvitova conceded to problems adapting to the conditions in Paris after her hard-fought 6-4 3-6 6-4 win against Marina Erakovic.
The Wimbledon champion s next opponent is Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who knocked out Pauline Parmentier, while Wozniacki will face Julia Goerges - a three-set winner against Coco Vandeweghe - after crushing Karin Knapp 6-3 6-0.
There was no such joy for seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard as she was knocked out 6-4 6-4 by Kristina Mladenovic.
Defeat continues a dreadful clay-court season for Bouchard - who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year - that has seen her win just one match. Mladenovic takes on Danka Kovinic, a winner over Klara Koukalova - in the next round.
Number 10 seed Andrea Petkovic was dominant in her 6-2 6-1 success against Shelby Rogers and 16th seed Madison Keys overcame Varvara Lepchenko 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
Svetlana Kuzenetsova survived a scare in her opening match. The 2009 champion was tested by Kiki Bertens in a 6-1 4-6 6-2 triumph and will now meet 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone following the Italian s three-set defeat of Wang Qiang.
Timea Bacsinszky beat Lara Arruabarrena 6-3 6-4, however, three-time semi-finalist Jelena Jankovic crashed out by the same scoreline at the hands of world 104 Sesil Karatantcheva.
Zarina Diyas made short work of Dinah Pfizenmaier in a 6-4 6-1 victory but former world number five Daniela Hantuchova tumbled out with a 6-3 6-3 loss to Belinda Bencic.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Tereza Smitkova, Alison van Uytvanck, Irina Falconi and Lourdes Dominguez Lino.
