May 31, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1427

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PARIS, May 30: Martina Hingis and Justine Henin-Hardenne warmed to their task at a chilly Roland Garros but in-form Russian third seed Nadia Petrova was a surprise first round loser at the French Open on Tuesday.

Petrova, who has won four titles this season, looked well short of her best in a 6-2 6-2 defeat by Japan's Akiko Morigami.

Hingis, back at Roland Garros after a five-year absence, trounced American Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-2 in a first round match played in a temperature of little more than 10 degrees Celsius.

The Paris air had warmed a little by the time defending champion Henin-Hardenne took to centre court and the Belgian was a comfortable 6-3 6-0 winner over Estonian Maret Ani.

Petrova, so often in the shadow of her grand slam-winning compatriots Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina, has won three claycourt titles this season and had real hope of making a breakthrough in Paris.

She suffered a pectoral injury winning the Berlin title earlier this month, however, and looked sluggish and short of power on court two.

Petrova's defeat was a boost for Henin-Hardenne, who was in line to face the imposing Russian in the last eight.

The claycourt event is the only grand slam missing from Hingis's collection and in 1999 she was mocked by the Paris crowd after throwing a tantrum during her defeat in the final by Steffi Graf. On Tuesday, though, the 25-year-old was all sunny smiles, despite the weather.

“I was like ouff!” said Hingis. “But I'm from a cold country so it shouldn't be such a big factor.”

The 12th seed reached the Australian Open quarter-finals at the start of the year and won her first title since returning from a three-year break at the Italian Open this month.

She is on a quarter-final collision course with second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium and is determined not to raise expectations too high.

“I'm not even close to being there holding the trophy, being the champion,” she said. “I don't want to put any extra pressure on me because I don't need to.”

American fifth seed Andy Roddick and Australian Lleyton Hewitt test their ankle injuries when they open their campaigns later while Russian Marat Safin faces a tough first-round match against Chilean ninth seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Croatian fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic rattled through to round two with a 6-2 6-0 6-3 thrashing of Argentine Carlos Berlocq.

Ljubicic, who has never made it past the third round at Roland Garros, was detained only one hour 35 minutes on court two.

Briton Andy Murray's debut was almost as painful to watch as it evidently was to play in. The Scot needed treatment for a back injury during a five-set defeat by fellow 19-year-old Gael Monfils of France.

Murray, who beat Monfils at the Hamburg Masters this month, eventually lost 6-4 6-7 1-6 6-2 6-1 in a turgid centre court encounter that lasted three and three-quarter hours. The two teenagers made 68 unforced errors each.

Russia's 2004 champion Myskina, seeded 10 this year, outclassed Indian Sania Mirza 6-4 6-1. Zheng Jie of China, who reached the fourth round two years ago, upset 23rd seed Tatiana Golovin of France 6-3 7-6.

Results:

Men singles (first round): Albert Montanes def. Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4;Tommy Haas def. Rainer Schuettler6-4, 6-3, 6-3; Olivier Rochus def. Jean-Christophe Faurel6-1, 6-4, 6-2; Marcos Baghdatis def. Albert Portas 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1; Julien Benneteau def. Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3; Fernando Verdasco def. Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4; Alexander Waske def. Fernando Vicente 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4); Jiri Vanek def. Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3); Dominik Hrbaty def. Sergio Roitman 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3; Oscar Hernandez, def. Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; Davide Sanguinetti, def. Daniele Bracciali 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3; Dieter Kindlmann def. Razvan Sabau 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; Juan Monaco def. Melle van Gemerden 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Dick Norman def. Edgardo Massa 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; Gael Monfils def. Andy Murray 6-4, 6-7 (2), 1-6, 6-2, 6-1; Ivo Karlovic def. Olivier Patience 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10); Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-2, 6-1; Ivan Ljubicic def. Carlos Berlocq 6-2, 6-0, 6-3; Mathieu Montcourt def. Marcos Daniel 6-2, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Novak Djokovic def. Luis Horna 6-3, 5-0, retired; Alberto Martin def. Andy Roddick 6-4, 7-5, 1-0, retired.

Women (first round): Anastasia Myskina def. Sania Mirza 6-4, 6-1; Martina Hingis def. Lisa Raymond 6-2, 6-2; Zuzana Ondraskova def. Julia Schruff 6-4, 6-2; Kaia Kanepi def. Kveta Peschke 6-2, 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-1, 6-4; Ivana Lisjak def. Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-3; Jamea Jackson def. Yan Zi 6-2, 6-3; Melinda Czink def. Sandra Kloesel, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Zheng Jie def. Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 7-6 (5); Ana Ivanovic def. Samantha Stosur6-0, 6-3; Anna-Lena Groenefeld def. Camille Pin 6-1, 6-1; Shenay Perry def. Shinobu Asagoe 6-3, 6-1; Tsvetana Pironkova def. Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-3, 6-2; Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Victoria Azarenka 0-6, 6-3, 9-7; Emmanuelle Gagliardi def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-4, 6-2; Shahar Peer def. Olga Savchuk 6-1, 6-1; Maria Kirilenko def. Severine Bremond 1-6, 6-2, 8-6; Yuliana Fedak def. Kristina Brandi 6-2, 6-3; Emilie Loit def. Clarisa Fernandez 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; Justine Henin-Hardenne, def. Maret Ani 6-3, 6-0; Akiko Morigami def. Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2.—Agencies