AP
PARIS, MAY 26
Maria Sharapova took advantage of a break in the rain - and several breaks of her opponent's serve - to win her opening match at the French Open on Monday.
The 2012 champion was first on court in the main stadium at Roland Garros and needed little more than an hour to reach the second round by beating Ksenia Pervak 6-1, 6-2.
"It's always nice to get out there on a day like this. It's good to play first match, as you know," Sharapova said. "Hopefully you'll be able to finish the match today with the weather conditions being as they are. It's always nice to get through."
Sharapova broke Pervak five times and finished with 17 winners, while Pervak had only four.
Sharapova, seeded seventh at the French Open, completed a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros two years ago. She then lost to Serena Williams in the 2013 final.Up next in Paris will be Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in the second round. But she could face Williams in the quarterfinals.
"It's tough to think about that match down the line where you have to compete in three matches before that," Sharapova said. "Obviously it's a match that many people always look forward to when we play against each other."
Monday's match started about 1 hour, 20 minutes late because of the wet weather. The forecast calls for more rain Monday, and for the rest of the week.
Shortly after Sharapova's match ended, and shortly after Novak Djokovic's match started, the rain returned and play was suspended.
Djokovic was leading Joao Sousa of Portugal 4-1 when play was halted.
Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia also advanced, beating Virginie Razzano of France 7-5, 6-0.
Other winners include No. 12 Flavia Pennetta of Italy and No. 16 Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Pennetta beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria 6-2, 6-2, while 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Lisicki defeated Fiona Ferro of France 6-1, 7-5.
On the men's side, ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori was knocked out at the first step, losing to Martin Klizan of Slovakia 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-2.
Nishikori came into the tournament after winning his first clay-court title in Barcelona last month and then reaching the final in Madrid against Rafael Nadal where he had to retire with a back injury.
Nishikori, the highest-ranked Japanese man in history, is No. 10 in the world, one spot lower than his career high.
Later Monday, eight-time champion Nadal and Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka were scheduled to play - weather permitting.
Djokovic, Serena register win
Serbia's second seed Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a maiden French Open title on Monday with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 first round win over Portugal's Joao Sousa.The six-time Grand Slam winner is only missing the Roland Garros title to complete his set of all four majors and began in style with a confident showing on the Philippe Chatrier centre court. Sousa, ranked 42 in the world and a French Open best of reaching the second round last year, was outclassed by Djokovic's all round game.The Serb, who is coming off a stellar showing in Rome where he defeated Rafael Nadal, following earlier victories in 2014 at Indian Wells and Miami, converted eight of 15 break points.The former world number one now faces French hope Jeremy Chardy for a place in the last 32. Serena Williams began the defense of her French Open title with a 6-2, 6-1 victory Sunday over 138th-ranked Alize Lim, a wild-card entry from France.The top-seeded Williams dictated most points and wound up with 30 more winners - but also 24 more unforced errors - than Lim.Williams is a 17-time major champion who was facing a woman making her Grand Slam debut. Still, there was a bit of shakiness from the 32-year-old American as she served out the final game, erasing four break points and needing five match points to close things. Williams saved all seven break points she faced in the match.She improved to 54-1 in first-round matches at majors. The only loss came at the 2012 French Open against 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano.