There was no sign of the injury that had made Caroline Wozniacki a doubt for the French Open as she cruised past the challenge of Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round of the women's draw yesterday. The world No 3 from Denmark had sparked concern over her fitness after being forced to withdraw from the Warsaw Open last week as she suffered a recurrence of the ankle problem that has hampered her since April.
But the 19-year-old was in superb form as she swept aside her Russian opponent 6-0, 6-3, and she said that her ankle had not been a problem. "It feels pretty good today actually, and I've had good support from the tape [which strapped her ankle] so I was really happy about that," Wozniacki said. Wozniacki was playing her 125th match since the start of the 2009 season, the most among all the tour players.
Asked if it was a good idea to have played so many tournaments - she featured in eight of the last nine tour events this season - Wozniacki said it was not her choice. "There are some rules on the WTA Tour, and we have to follow those rules," she said. "Maybe it would have been better if I could have taken a few weeks off, but those are the rules, and I did what I had to do." Wozniacki won the first seven games against Kudryavtseva, but lost her serve in the third game of the second set. She broke back immediately and went on to close out the match with ease.
She next plays Italy's Tathiana Garbin for a place in the last 32. The French Open has not been a happy hunting ground in recent years for Serena Williams, and the world No 1 was forced to work hard early on before getting the better of Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 7-6, 6-2. Williams has only won one of her 12 grand slam titles at Roland Garros, and has not been beyond the quarter-finals since 2003.
She had to save three break points in a tight first set against Voegele, ranked 76th in the world, before taking it on a tie-break. The second set proved more comfortable as three breaks of serve saw her progress. Elena Dementieva, the fifth seed, had an easy passage, losing just two games in her ruthless disposal of Petra Martic as she won 6-1, 6-1. China's Na Li, the 11th seed, also progressed in straight sets, beating France's Kristina Mladenovic 7-5, 6-3.
Agnieszka Radwanska put in a mixed display against Britain's Elena Baltacha before she came through 6-0, 7-5. The Polish eighth seed looked as if she was going to win at a canter after whitewashing the first set. Baltacha was a tougher prospect in the second set, but Radwanska eventually triumphed. Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion who is unseeded this year after falling to 42nd in the world on the back of poor form, came through her first round match comfortably. She beat Taiwan's Chang Kai-chen in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
Francesca Schiavone, the Italian 17th seed, was given a fright by Regina Kulikova before she prevailed 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. She dropped the first set to her Russian opponent before bouncing back to triumph. * Compiled by Graham Caygill, with agencies
