Bulldog

Well, well, play has begun in gay Paris, and already we are not without our share of upsets, almost-upsets and stories in general. I love Grand Slam tennis!

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The match which I was probably following more closely than the rest was Karlovic against Hewitt, which was a damn exciting match, even if it did involve Karlovic, arguably one of the most boring players on tour. I bet Dr Ivo is not going to be too happy about being taken out first round - though I suppose it's better to be taken out by Hewitt, who is still a name in the tennis world, than some total random.

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Karlovic did not necessarily play a bad match - he did very well in the breakers and until the fade set in in the fourth, could have won the match pretty much at any moment. But you have to give credit to Hewitt. Even though his tennis sure ain't what it used to be, he is so damn dogged. You can see shades of it in Nadal - that grit and determination never, ever to give up, to make each point a war. Hewitt totally sunk his teeth in after being two points from the brink of defeat - I think he can be pretty proud.

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Marat Safin also pulled off a reasonable win, though his opponent was no one to speak of - but I don't think we're going to be seeing too much more of Gilles Simon this tournament, somehow. Five sets in the first round against Wayne Odesnik? Shudder.

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Ernests Gulbis also had a nice win - please please please break your slump at Roland Garros, Ernests! - and Marin Cilic gave Jan Hernych an absolute clinic, so we're looking good from a Stars perspective... though potential Star Frederico Gil did go out to David Ferrer, but that wasn't wholly unexpected.

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Over to the ladies, and if Ana Ivanovic makes it to the quarters to meet Dinara Safina, I will eat an item of my own clothing. She played pathetically and if Errani had been able to push it just that little bit further, Ivanovic could have been going home. Someone who did actually go home was Amelie Mauresmo, which was terribly sad - once again, not her year in Paris. But the Stars kept shining - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had a nice win.

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Bring on Day 2!

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Today's Results

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French Open (Roland Garros)

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Men's Draw

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Marat Safin def. Alexandre Sidorenko, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Gilles Simon def. Wayne Odesnik, 3-6 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-3

Andy Murray def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-2 6-2 6-1

Lleyton Hewitt def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-7 (1-7) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Florent Serra, 6-2 6-1 6-4

Radek Stepanek def. Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 6-4 6-1

Ernests Gulbis def. Sam Querrey, 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 3-6 6-1

Josselin Ouanna def. Marcel Granollers, 7-5 2-6 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-1

David Ferrer def. Frederico Gil, 6-2 6-4 6-4

Nicolas Almagro def. Agustin Calleri, 6-4 6-1 6-3

Andrey Golubev def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 6-3 6-2

Marin Cilic def. Jan Hernych, 6-0 6-4 6-3

Mathieu Montcourt def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-2 retired

Robert Kendrick def. Daniel Brands, 6-7 (7-9) 7-5 7-6 (13-11) 4-6 6-1

Philipp Petzschner def. Peter Polansky, 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Jean-Rene Lisnard, 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-3

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Women's Draw

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Ana Ivanovic def. Sara Errani, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Anna-Lene Groenefeld def. Amelie Mauresmo, 6-4 6-3

Vitalia Diatchenko def. Mathilde Johansson, 2-6 6-2 10-8

Nadia Petrova def. Lauren Embree, 6-1 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Roberta Vinci, 6-4 6-2

Elena Vesnina def. Severine Bremond Beltrame, 6-3 6-3

Arantxa Rus def. Olivia Sanchez, 6-1 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Emilie Loit, 4-6 6-4 6-1

Julie Coin def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 7-5 6-2

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-3 6-2

Alla Kudryavsteva def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3 6-3

Kristina Barrois def. Maria-Emilia Salerni, 3-6 6-1 6-2

Yaroslava Shvedova def. Kaia Kanepi, 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 6-2

Iveta Benesova def. Julia Goerges, 7-5 4-1 retired

Li Na def. Marta Domachowska, 6-4 6-2

Gisela Dulko def. Tamira Paszek, 6-1 6-3