FRANCE-US Open champion Samantha Stosur had the honour of being the first player into the French Open second round at a sweltering Roland Garros on Sunday, brushing aside Britain’s Elena Baltacha.
Australian sixth seed Stosur, the 2010 runner-up to Francesca Schiavone, took just a over an hour to see off the 68th-ranked Baltacha 6-4, 6-0 on Philippe Chatrier court.
The 26-year-old from the Gold Coast, who hammered 23 winners to Baltacha’s eight, next faces either Irina Falconi of the United States or Romania’s Edina Gallovits-Hall.
Joining Stosur in the next round was Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The 2009 champion, seeded 26 this year, marked her 40th Grand Slam appearance with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 win over Croatian world number 117 Mirjana Lucic.
The 26-year-old Russian, who was also runner-up in 2006, brushed aside the 30-year-old Florida-based Lucic in just 61 minutes.
Kuznetsova tackles either Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine or Taiwan qualifier Chan Yung-Jan for a place in the last 32.
Czech 20th seed Lucie Safarova was also an early winner on the opening day, seeing off Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-2, 6-0.
