Paris: The first day of the French Open turned out to be a big test of character for the top seeds.
From Roger Federer to Maria Sharapova all had a scare before they advanced to the next round. Amelie Mauresmo, David Nalbandian, Tommy Robredo and Tim Henman were the other winners on day one.
Roger Federer's bid to become the first man in 37 years to hold all four Grand Slam titles spluttered unconvincingly into life on Sunday as the Swiss top seed struggled to beat unknown Argentinian qualifier Diego Hartfield.
"Well, it's very similar to the match I played in Australia in the first round. I played Istomin in the first round. I never heard of him. This time around it was even more difficult because I only knew one day ahead who I was going to play, and I never heard of his name or never seen him before," Federer said.
"First time I saw him was five minutes before the match. It's not so easy to play like this. Also maybe that's one of the reasons I had a little bit of a tough time because I tried to find out as much as possible."
"You only find out limited stuff - he has a good backhand, he runs well, all these stuff. In the end, it's only on the court you can see how he plays. I thought he played very well," he added.
Russian fourth seed, Maria Sharapova was forced to play on the opening day of the claycourt grand slam despite requesting a late start after aggravating a right ankle injury in training.
"Strange that Michael and my dad told me that, you know, from 5-2 I started moving again. It was hard for me to feel that because obviously I felt like I wasn't doing anything right," Sharapova said.
"But, suddenly I started moving better and I think in my mind I was playing with pain. I blocked it out somehow and started moving better and making her hit an extra ball. She got a little bit tight, at 5-all, and I served it out, hit a few good shots, and there was the match."
Another damsel in distress on the first day of the tournament was Dinara Safina.
"Yeah, it was not easy. I was pretty tight. I mean, you know, I didn't have unbelievable expression from the Grand Slams, Roland Garros. I won only one match in four years. When they said you're opening in the Centre court, they put even a little more pressure," said the Russian youngster.
"I knew that I have to be tough and I knew she (Vera Zvonareva) is a great player."
"At that moment, I had to be really focused on every point. Even I was down with the break two times, and then at 5-4 I lost my serve. I knew why I lost it. I just said like forget it and try to make a break again," she added.
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