Kvitova struggles

Giants make Paris entrance

 Paris

Fourth seed Petra Kvitova struggled into the French Open second round yesterday as Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams waited to make their 2015 Roland Garros entrances.

Wimbledon champion Kvitova needed two and a half hours to see off New Zealand's world number 80 Marina Erakovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, getting broken six times and committing 47 unforced errors.

The 25-year-old goes on to face either France's Pauline Parmentier or Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain for a place in the last 32. Kvitova was a semi-finalist in Paris in 2012 and had clinched the claycourt title in Madrid earlier this month.

But she struggled throughout large parts of today’s match against an opponent she had previously defeated four times out of four.She trailed by a break in the first set before recovering and was quickly a double break down in the second. Kvitova was twice a break to the good in the decider but the Croatian-born Erakovic battled back to 4-4 before the Czech finally sealed the tie.

"It was a very close, tough match but I always expect that at the beginning of a tournament," said Kvitova. "Until the last point it was a difficult match for me and Marina played very well."

Meanwhile, Spain's David Ferrer won his 300th claycourt match when he swept past Slovakia's Lukas Lacko. Ferrer, 33 and seeded seven, won 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to become just the second active player behind Nadal to win 300 matches on the surface.

Ferrer, the Roland Garros runner-up in 2013, goes on to face compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver."It's not important," said Ferrer of his landmark moment. 

"It's just a number. But of course, it's a lot of matches playing on a clay court, and if nothing else I can be proud of that." Croatia's Marin Cilic, the ninth-seeded US Open champion, defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, beat Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 and could face 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone in the next round should the Italian see off China's Qiang Wang.

But the United States' misery continued when defeats for Coco Vandeweghe and Taylor Townsend meant 11 American women failed to get out of the first round.

Djokovic starts with win

Top seed Novak Djokovic came through a testing start to his French Open campaign, beating experienced Finn Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round.

On a cloudy Paris day, Djokovic breezed through the opening set after breaking immediately but it was not all plain sailing for the world number one on Court Philippe Chatrier as Nieminen broke to lead 3-1 in the second set.

The 33-year-old left-hander, appearing at his 50th major, found himself serving for the second set at 5-3 up only to blow his chance by losing the next four games.

After that, the final outcome was in little doubt and Djokovic secured victory on his fourth match point to make it 23 consecutive wins since losing to Roger Federer in the final in Dubai three months ago.

Djokovic, who is seeking to win the French Open title for the first time and become just the eighth player to claim a career Grand Slam, will now face either Luxembourg's Gilles Muller or Paolo Lorenzi of Italy in the second round.