A semi-finalist last year, Henin’s finesse and touch were all but useless on a sodden Court Suzanne Lenglen as rain drizzled throughout her one hour 52 minute ordeal.
Fellow Belgian and fourth seed Kim Clijsters narrowly avoided her compatriot’s sorry fate, earlier surviving by the skin of her teeth on the same court with a 3-6 6-3 8-6 win over Tatiana Poutchek.
Men’s fifth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov also made heavy weather of his first-round clash as rain continued to lash Roland Garros stadium on day two of the claycourt grand slam event.
The Russian looked to be in deep trouble when he let slip a two-set lead before finally advancing 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-7 6-1 over Germany’s Tomas Behrend.
Three-times champion Monica Seles was also extended on the slow, damp Roland Garros clay, fighting back from a set down to beat Spaniard Angeles Montolio 6-7 6-3 6-0.
But sixth seed Tim Henman illustrated his new-found expertise on clay, beating Spanish baseliner Galo Blanco comprehensively 6-4 6-3 7-6.
Henman was joined in the second round by former champion Carlos Moya and 14th seed Jiri Novak.
Novak beat Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-3 6-4 7-6 while Moya, winner here in 1998, beat Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado 6-3 6-3 6-2.
Former champion Kafelnikov struggled with his own demons before finally burying Behrend in a match which began on Monday and was carried over because of rain.
Heavy, persistent showers once more played havoc with the schedule, with organisers forced to re-jig their schedule for the second day in succession.
Rain delay meant 28 first-round matches were put back to Wednesday, including the tie between women’s third seed Serena Williams and Slovak Martina Sucha.
Men’s fourth seed Andre Agassi will also have to wait for Wednesday to start the tournament.
Clijsters struggled from the off on a damp court.
Runner-up to Jennifer Capriati last year, the Belgian fourth seed looked to be headed for the exit as she sprayed a series of unforced errors around the arena.
Ultimately, though, it was Belarussian Poutchek’s nerve which snapped as she dumped a weak backhand into the net to hand Clijsters victory.
Seles survived a nasty scare early on in her match as Montolio barely put a foot wrong on centre court to race into a 5-0 lead.
Sixth seed Seles drew on all her trademark grit, however, and although she lost that opening set on a tiebreak a rain delay allowed her to re-think her tactics and she reeled off nine games in a row from 3-3 in the second set to clinch a second-round spot.
SAMPRAS BEATEN: Italian Andrea Gaudenzi ended Pete Sampras’s 13th attempt to win the elusive crown in the first round on Monday with a battling 3-6 6-4 6-2 7-6 win.
It was a disappointing finish to the day for the 12th-seeded American as he looked set for victory before two rain interruptions — in the second and fourth sets — put paid to his hopes.
Having captured the first set with his trademark serve and volley game, Gaudenzi came roaring back to grab the next three with a solid display from the baseline despite fading light hampering visibility towards the end of the match.
RESULTS
Men (first round): 11-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) beat Jean-Rene Lisnard (France) 6-1 7-6 (7-1) 6-3; Hicham Arazi (Morocco) beat 8-Roger Federer (Switzerland) 6-3 6-2 6-4; Fernando Vicente (Spain) beat 32-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 4-6 6-1 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-3; Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) beat 28-Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-5); Guillermo Coria (Argentina) beat Sargis Sargsian (Armenia) 6-2 7-5 6-0; 15-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) beat Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2 6-2; Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat Julien Varlet (France) 1-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-3; Amir Hadad (Israel) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-1 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-2; 25-Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Harel Levy (Israel) 6-1 6-0 1-0, retired (Levy withdrew injured); Jens Knippschild (Germany) beat Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) 6-4 1-6 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1; Alberto Martin (Spain) beat Robby Ginepri (U.S.) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-3; Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) beat 27-Nicolas Escude (France) 6-4 6-2 0-6 6-4; Mariano Puerta (Argentina) beat Kristian Pless (Denmark) 6-3 1-6 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 6-3; 17-Carlos Moya (Spain) beat Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) 6-3 6-3 6-2; 5-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) beat Tomas Behrend (Germany) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-1; Adrian Voinea (Romania) beat 21-Juan ignacio Chela (Argentina) 7-6 (11-9) 7-5 4-6 7-6 (9-7); Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) beat Giorgio Galimberti (Italy) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 6-3; 6-Tim Henman (Britain) beat Galo Blanco (Spain) 6-4 6-3 7-6 (8-6); Xavier Malisse (Belgium) beat Alexander Popp (Germany) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-1; 14-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-5)
Tuesday evening’s results: Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy) beat 12-Pete Sampras (U.S.) 3-6 6-4 6-2 7-6 (7-3); 20-Albert Costa (Spain) beat Richard Gasquet (France) 3-6 6-0 6-4 6-3; Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) beat Scott Draper (Australia) 6-2 7-6 (11-9) 6-3.
Women (first round): Barbara Rittner (Germany) beat Petra Mandula (Hungary) 6-3 4-6 6-0; Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) beat 25-Daja Bedanova (Czech Republic) 2-6 6-3 6-2; Aniko Kapros (Hungary) beat 5-Justine Henin (Belgium) 4-6 6-1 6-0; Maria Goloviznina (Russia) beat Barbara Schwartz (Austria) 2-6 7-5 5-2, retired (Schwartz withdrew injured); Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) beat Celine Beigbeder (France) 6-3 6-1; 26-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Marion Bartoli (France) 6-3 4-6 7-5; 4-Kim Clijsters (Belgium) beat Tatiana Poutchek (Belarus) 3-6 6-3 8-6; 27-Nathalie Dechy (France) beat Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spain) 6-1 3-6 6-0; 6-Monica Seles (U.S.) beat Angeles Montolio (Spain) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-0; Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) beat 19-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) 3-6 6-2 7-5; Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) beat Jennifer Hopkins (U.S.) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4; Eva Bes (Spain) beat 24-Lisa Raymond (U.S.) 6-4 6-3; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) beat Stephanie Foretz (France) 6-2 6-4; Amy Frazier (U.S.) beat Meilen Tu (U.S.) 6-4 6-0; Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) beat Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) 6-2 6-4; Martina Muller (Germany) beat 30-Amanda Coetzer (South Africa) 6-2 6-2—Reuters