Nadal, Djokovic record 1st-round victories

Rafael Nadal smoothly negotiated the potential stumbling block presented by Frenchman Benoit Paire on Monday, launching his bid for a 10th French Open trophy with a largely routine 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win.

The heavy favourite for the title looked in imperious form as he steamed through the first set in under half an hour.

Paire, described prior to their encounter on Court Suzanne Lenglen as a dangerous opponent by Nadal, played with more freedom in a closer second set as the Spaniard lost his edge. Trading baseline rallies, they exchanged breaks to leave the Frenchman leading 4-3.

But Nadal then pulled clear and, with Paire periodically clutching his stomach after a medical time out, the Spaniard took nine of the last 10 games to close out the match in just under two hours.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic enjoyed a winning French Open start under new coach Andre Agassi on Monday, cruising past Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.

The 12-times Grand Slam champion parted company with his entire coaching team earlier this month before inviting American great

Agassi to work with him during the French Open.

The 30-year-old Serbian, without a tour title since January, found little resistance from Granollers,

grabbing two breaks early on in the first set as he chased the 77th-ranked around the court.

It was a similar story early in the second set with the world number two returning everything Granollers tried to throw at him as he went 4-1 up before a wobble saw him fail to convert eight set points at 5-3. Djokovic kept his cool to earn the second set and pounced on the Spaniards' accumulating mistakes in the third set to seal victory on his first match point.

Fifth-seeded Milos Raonic is safely through to the second round of the French Open after sweeping past Steve Darcis of Belgium in straight sets on Monday. The Canadian took just 92 minutes to beat the 38th-ranked Darcis 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 — taking the final game to love.

In the women's tournament, Montreal's Francoise Abanda defeated Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France 6-3, 6-4 in her main-draw debut at Roland Garros.

Defending champion Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain reached the second round of the women's singles categoryin the French Open tennis championships after defeating Francesca Schiavone on Monday. The 23-year-old Spaniard won 6-2, 6-4 over Schiavone in just an hour and a half, reports Efe.

In round two, Muguruza will face Estonian Anett Kontaveit, 21, who won 7-5, 6-1 over Romanian Monica Niculescu.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark survived a second-set scare to beat Australian wild card Jaimee Fourlis and reach the second round.

The 17-year-old Fourlis, who is ranked 337th in the world and was appearing in only her second ever Grand Slam, lost the first set but raced into a 4-1 lead in the second against the 11th-seeded Wozniacki.

Fourlis managed to save two of three match points on her serve before Wozniacki triumphed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Despite the defeat, Fourlis walked off to a standing ovation.