Day one of the French Open saw most of the seeds advance in Pairs on Sunday including (6) Samantha Stosur, (5) Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, (9) Juan Martin Del Potro, (10) Angelique Kerber, (13) Ana Ivanovic, (18) Stanislas Wawrinka, (14) Fernando Verdasco, (20) Lucie Safarova, (21) Marin Cilic and (21) Sara Errani.
Sunday did have a few surprises. Twenty-sixth seed Andy Roddick fell in the first round of the French Open for the fifth time in his career losing to 88th-ranked Nicolas Mahut of France. Mahut, who is best known for being the loser in the longest match in tennis history back at Wimbledon 2010, out aced Roddick 13-8 and broke the American seven times.
“I moved just horrendously out here,” said Roddick. “My first step is just so bad on this stuff. I feel like I’m always shuffling or hopping or not stopping. Just from the first ball to get set, I feel like I’m really exposed too easily out there.
“When you don’t have much of a flow going, it lends itself to sporadic play. It all adds up. You can’t fake it out here. These are the best tournaments in the world. It’s tough to lie out here.”
Roddick’s overall record at Roland Garros now falls to 9-10.
“When I saw Roddick (in the past), I thought he would always kill me,” Mahut told media.
“You know, six or seven or eight times I played against him… at the Queen’s (Club tournament) final with the match point, you know what happened.
“When I see him in the locker rooms (from now on), I’ll feel better. I won’t feel like … he was shooting at me like a pigeon.”
Austria’s Jurgen Melzer blew a two sets to love lead, only to be ousted by Germany’s Michael Berrer 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur led off the day on Philippe Chatrier Court taking down Great Britain’s Elena Baltacha 6-4, 6-0.
Stosur spoke about leading off the day’s play on Court Philipe Chatrier. “Well, funnily enough I think I had first match on Sunday last year too here, so it wasn’t anything I guess foreign in that sense,†Stosur said.
“Yeah, obviously first match, it’s a bit of an early start, but always nice to get through it now. You have the whole day and whatever else to recover and, yeah, enjoy.â€
Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga came back from a poor start to knock out Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
No. 9 seed Juan Martin Del Potro had a hiccup in the second set and some problems with his left knee but moved past Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1.
“It’s a problem when you can’t find your balance like you’re used to, but I’ll use these few days of rest to get better,” Del Potro said. “If I go on the court, it’s because I feel good. I want to continue playing.”
Former Roland Garros finalist Venus Williams coming back from battling an autoimmune disease, had to rally past Argentine Paula Ormaechea 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 to gain the second round. Williams returned to the tennis in March after taking time off to deal with her Sjogren’s Syndrome.
“My main goal right now is to get to the Olympics,†Williams said,  “so it was, you know, put all my energy towards the singles.â€
In a bit of a comeback story, American Melanie Oudin who reached the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open at 17, won her first match at Roland Garros and tour level main draw match of the year by defeating Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-3, 6-3. Oudin currently ranked 269th in the world who saw her ranking plummet into the 300’s, gained a spot in the draw due to winning a wildcard from the US Tennis Association due to her results in second tier events.
“I was putting so much pressure on myself,†noted Oudin. “Now I feel like I am the underdog.”
“I was a little bit nervous. I could tell. I mean, my feet weren’t really moving in the beginning. I definitely needed to just loosen up a little bit,” Oudin said of her match.
Oudin’s win also marks the end of her five-match losing streak at the majors which dates back to the 2009 US Open quarterfinal.
Seeds Advancing
Women
(6) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d Elena Baltacha (GBR) 64 60
(10) Angelique Kerber (GER) d (Q) Zhang Shuai (CHN) 63 64
(13) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d (Q) Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino (ESP) 61 61
(20) Lucie Safarova (CZE) d Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR) 62 60
(21) Sara Errani (ITA) d Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 46 62 62
(26) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 61 63
Men
[5] J Tsonga (FRA) d A Kuznetsov (RUS) 16 63 62 64
[9] J del Potro (ARG) d A Montanes (ESP) 62 67(5) 62 61
[14] F Verdasco (ESP) d S Darcis (BEL) 63 62 76(4)
[18] S Wawrinka (SUI) d F Cipolla (ITA) 63 63 46 63 62
[21] M Cilic (CRO) d D Munoz-De La Nava (ESP) 64 64 75
Seeds Upset
N Mahut (FRA) d [26] A Roddick (USA) 63 63 46 62
M Berrer (GER) d [30] J Melzer (AUT) 67(5) 46 62 62 63