Third seed Petrova knocked out

Third seed Nadia Petrova suffered a shock defeat in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday, beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Akiko Morigami of Japan.

The Russian, who has won four titles this year, looked unusually sluggish and was beaten in just over an hour.

Petrova missed the Italian Open two weeks ago with a pectoral injury and against Morigami she struggled to create her usual power, allowing the Japanese to dictate most of the points.

Morigami broke Petrova twice on her way to winning the first set and, after breaking twice more in the second, held her nerve to serve out for victory.

HENIN CRUISES

Justine Henin-Hardenne opened the defence of her French Open crown with a 6-3, 6-0 thrashing of Estonian Maret Ani to reach the second round at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

Wearing long sleeves on a chilly centre court Henin, seeded fifth this year, raced to a 4-0 lead and pocketed the first set in 32 minutes.

She finished her warm-up against the world number 70 with a volleyed winner in just one hour.

Henin-Hardenne, who also won the tournament in 2003, will meet either Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus or American Jill Craybas in the next round.