PARIS, May 27: Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams led a procession of seeds into the second round of the French Open on a rain-disrupted first day of action at Roland Garros on Monday.

Men’s top seed Hewitt put in a solid performance on Court Suzanne Lenglen to beat Brazilian Andre Sa 7-5 6-4 7-5, while women’s second seed Williams spent just 65 minutes sweeping aside Germany’s Bianka Lamade 6-3 6-3.

Gustavo Kuerten opened the defence of his Roland Garros crown in fine style, beating Swiss Ivo Heuberger 7-5 6-2 6-2, while last year’s runner-up Alex Corretja dispatched Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 6-1 6-4 6-1.

Hewitt just managed to squeeze his match in before rain forced play to be halted on all 16 courts at Roland Garros.

Much more comfortable on quicker hard courts, the Australian was given a tough test in his opener against baseliner Sa as gusty and overcast conditions posed problems for both players.

Hewitt will next face Andrei Stoliarov after the Russian beat Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman 1-6 6-4 6-4 7-5.

Kuerten’s match was caught by the rain — a 45-minute delay caused by persistent showers — but it did not seem to affect the three-times champion unduly.

The Brazilian, who underwent hip surgery in February, gives himself only an outside chance of winning the title this time round, but should not have too much trouble next against Italy’s Davide Sanguinetti.

Kuerten is bidding to become the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1978, 1979 and 1980 to win three back-to-back men’s singles crowns at Roland Garros.

In other men’s action, 16th seed Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco beat Jan-Michael Gambill in a marathon match, while Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson put aside his discomfort on clay to beat Argentine Franco Squillari 6-2 7-6 6-2.

In the women’s draw, Williams — a first round loser here last year — became the first seed into the second round.

She showed little sign of the wrist injury which caused her to pull out of the Italian Open in Rome two weeks ago as she motored through against Lamade.

French 10th seed Amelie Mauresmo also atoned for a first round defeat in 2001 by ousting compatriot Camille Pin 6-4 6-1.

They were joined in the second round by 11th seed Daniela Hantuchova and 13th seed Elena Dementieva who also posted straightforward victories on the slow, red clay of the French capital.

Slovakia’s Hantuchova gained revenge for a Miami defeat at the hands of Cara Black in March by dismissing the Zimbabwean 6-2 6-3.

Russian number one Dementieva was made to fight a little harder before easing past Czech Adriana Gersi 7-5 6-3.

RESULTS:

Men’s singles (first round):

22-Andrei Pavel (Romania) beat Martin Lee (Britain) 6-1 5-4 retired injured; Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) beat Jan Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4; Jack Brasington (U.S.) beat Federico Luzzi (Italy) 6-2 6-2 7-5; Michel Kratochvil (Switzerland) beat Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-0 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-3; Andrei Stoliarov (Russia) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 1-6 6-4 6-4 7-5; Davide Sanguinetti (Italy) beat Julian Knowle (Austria) 6-3 4-6 7-5 6-3; Alex Calatrava (Spain) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-3 6-0 6-4; Albert Montanes (Spain) beat Anthony Dupuis (France) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 3-6 6-2 7-5; 30-Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) beat Ivan Miranda (Peru) 7-6 (7-2) 6-0 6-1; Todd Martin (U.S.) beat Martin Vassallo Arguello (Argentina) 6-2 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-5; Arnaud Clement (France) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 6-0 6-1 6-4; 16-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) beat Jan-Michael Gambill (U.S.) 3-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4; 7-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) beat Ivo Heuberger (Switzerland) 7-5 6-2 6-2; 1-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Andre Sa (Brazil) 7-5 6-4 7-5; 9-Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Franco Squillari (Argentina) 6-2 7-6 (8-6) 6-2; 18-Alex Corretja (Spain) beat Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) 6-1 6-4 6-1; Sebastien De Chaunac (France) beat Michael Chang (U.S.) 4-6 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-4; 3-Tommy Haas (Germany) beat Michal Tabara (Czech Republic) 6-3 7-5 6-4

Women’s singles (first round):

Chanda Rubin (U.S.) beat Cho Yoon-jeong (South Korea) 6-3 6-0; Paola Suarez (Argentina) beat 8-Sandrine Testud (France) 2-6 7-5 6-1; 16-Barbara Schett (Austria) beat Marlene Weingartner (Germany) 6-2 2-6 6-0; 10-Amelie Mauresmo (France) beat Camille Pin (France) 6-4 6-1; 29-Iva Majoli (Croatia) beat Kristina Brandi (U.S.) 6-4 6-3; Samantha Reeves (U.S.) beat Zsofia Gubacsi (Hungary) 6-1 6-1; Wynne Prakusya (Indonesia) beat Anca Barna (Germany) 1-6 7-5 6-1; Alina Jidkova (Russia) beat Saori Obata (Japan) 0-6 6-2 6-0; 31-Rita Grande (Italy) beat Mariana Diaz-Oliva (Argentina) 6-4 6-4; Ludmila Cervanova (Slovakia) beat Lilia Osterloh (U.S.) 6-4 6-4; Anne Kremer (Luxembourg) beat Janet Lee (Taiwan) 6-1 7-6 (7-5); Asa Svensson (Sweden) beat Selima Sfar (Tunisia) 6-0 6-2; 11-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) beat Cara Black (Zimbabwe) 6-2 6-3; 13-Elena Dementieva (Russia) beat Adriana Gersi (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-3; 2-Venus Williams (U.S.) beat Bianka Lamade (Germany) 6-3 6-3; Adriana Serra Zanetti (Italy) beat Jana Nejedly (Canada) 6-1 6-2—Reuters