Henin was appearing at her first Roland Garros since 2007 following her spell in retirement and beat Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-3, while Nadal eased past French teenager Gianni Mina 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

But Russian ninth seed Safina had a day to forget, as the former world number one fell 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm — the event’s oldest female match-winner since Virginia Wade in 1985.

Men’s sixth seed Andy Roddick came through a five-setter to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 and there were also wins for Lleyton Hewitt and Spanish seeds David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Henin, the number 22 seed, is bidding for her fifth Roland Garros title after stepping away from tennis on the eve of the 2008 tournament.

The 27-year-old Belgian cut short her retirement at the beginning of the year and will now face Czech Klara Zakopalova in the second round.

"I never expected to be back here again on this court," said Henin after taking her first steps on Court Philippe Chatrier since she overwhelmed Ana Ivanovic in the 2007 final.

Four-time champion Nadal saw off nine break points against 18-year-old wild card Mina, who was making his Grand Slam debut, as he breezed into a second-round meeting with Argentina’s Horacio Zaballos.

"My goal is always to play my best tennis. I would love to come back here every year as defending champion but that’s impossible," said the Spanish world number two, who lost his title to Roger Federer last year after a fourth-round defeat against Robin Soderling.

The unexpected star of the day was Date Krumm, a semi-finalist in 1995, who will meet Australian wildcard Jarmila Groth in round two after seeing off a sour-tempered Safina, whose season has been hampered by a lower back injury.

"Three weeks ago I injured my calf and to play against Safina on (Court) Suzanne Lenglen, I was already happy just to be here," said Date Krumm, who came back from 4-1 down in the third set despite injuring her calf.

Safina, 24, who was just three when Date Krumm mader her debut here in 1989, committed 17 double faults in the match.

"I couldn’t work on my serve until I came here. I was serving really good at the beginning but I got tight and lost the motion and that’s when I started to make more double faults," she said.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova, the Russian 12th seed, brushed off 18-year-old compatriot Ksenia Pervak to win 6-3, 6-2, while French 13th seed Marion Bartoli won 6-2, 6-3 against Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin.

In the men’s draw Roddick will face Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic for a place in the last 32 after his five-set ordeal against Nieminen on Philippe Chatrier.

The big-hitting American skipped the entire claycourt season for what he called "personal reasons" and had to dig deep before eventually overcoming his wily 28-year-old opponent in three hours and 19 minutes.

"I’ve been pretty good at sticking around. The majority of the matches I win aren’t pretty," said Roddick. "But I’ve made a career out of that."

Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, the seventh seed, eased past Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, but Argentine 26th seed Juan Monaco fell 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja, the world 141.

Ninth seed Ferrer triumphed 6-1 6-3 6-1 over Frenchman David Guez, with Ferrero, the number 16 seed, a 6-4 6-3 6-1 winner against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, but 18th seed Sam Querrey of the USA lost in four sets to countryman Robby Ginepri.

Australia’s Hewitt, the 28th seed, took his place in the last 64 by beating France’s Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 in a match that ended with a dramatic rainstorm after three days of blazing heat in Paris.

The seventh-seeded Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, dictated the points throughout and prevailed after 74 minutes on Centre Court.

Kuznetsova, 23, overcame a nervous start to snatch the opening set on Safina’s serve with a backhand winner.

She took a decisive lead by breaking for 4-2 in the second set and did not look back, wrapping up the win on her first match point and denying Safina her maiden grand slam title.

Svetlana Kuznetsova eases to French Open title

Door is open for Federer

The reverberations of Nadal’s shocking loss to Soderling are still being felt around the tennis world. Nadal destroyed the Swede three weeks ago in Rome, losing just one game in his straight-sets victory.

Now that the King of Clay has been dethroned in France, the draw has opened up for Roger Federer to finally capture his elusive French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam. Nadal had beaten Federer at Roland Garros each of the last of the last four years.

Federer already had to be feeling fortunate when fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic was defeated by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Djokovic was Federer’s primary threat in the bottom half of the draw after playing extremely well in the clay-court Masters Series events leading up to the French Open.

But Federer is going to have to increase his intensity if he hopes to win his 14th Grand Slam championship and equal Pete Sampras’ mark. The Swiss star has played uneven tennis and has labored with inconsistent shot-making. The former world No. 1 was severely tested by Jose Acasuso and needed four sets to dispatch Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the fourth round, Federer was in major trouble, rallying from two sets down to post a comeback win over Tommy Haas.

Based on his dominance of Andy Roddick, Federer would have been the beneficiary of more good fortune if the American had taken care of Gael Monfils in the round of 16. Monfils has bounced back from a recent knee injury and the Frenchman receives tremendous crowd support from the partisan Parisian fans.

Federer will have to dig deep again in his quarterfinal match against Monfils, but Roger should rise to the occasion knowing that he needs just three more wins to finally prevail in France.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro looms as an imposing figure that Federer could meet in the semifinals after the Argentine defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It remains to be seen how the rising star would handle the immense pressure of taking on a legend closing in on history.

Murray’s big opportunity

In the top half of the men’s draw, Soderling’s unlikely run at Roland Garros should come to an end when he faces Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. The Russian shined in his fourth round win over Fernando Verdasco and is primed to return to the French Open semifinals for the third time since 2005.

The other quarterfinal features an intriguing match between Fernando Gonzalez and Andy Murray. The hard-hitting Chilean has not dropped a set in his first four victories in Paris. But Murray has adroitly blended offensive and defensive tennis to reach the final eight. The No. 3 seed spent some of his formative years training in Barcelona and has always moved well on clay. The Scot has a sizeable opportunity to exploit Nadal’s absence and emerge from the top of the draw.

Safina, Serena on collision course

Dinara Safina remains on a mission to win her first Grand Slam championship. The world No. 1 did not yield more than two games in any of her early-round matches. With the early exits of Venus Williams and defending champion Ana Ivanovic, Safina’s road to the singles final has become far less challenging.

But the top-seeded Russian should not overlook her quarterfinal opponent, Victoria Azarenka. The No. 9 seed beat Safina earlier this year at Indian Wells and has displayed the form that has made her a top-10 player so far in Paris. Safina, though, should be able to use her improved versatility and comfort on clay to move on to the semifinals.

In that match, Safina would play either 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova or the “dangerous floater” Maria Sharapova. Sharapova’s conditioning will be critical at this stage of the tournament. The three-time Grand Slam champion, playing in just her second tournament after a nine-month layoff because of a shoulder injury, has been extended to three sets three times in her first four matches in the French Open.

In the bottom half of the women’s draw, Serena Williams can only hope her second week in Paris is less eventful than week one. While Serena, who always seems to receive a cool reception from the spectators at Roland Garros, appeared to be correct in her contention that Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was dishonest in their controversial match, it’s unlikely that the uproar will win Williams any more French fans.

The No. 2 seed made a statement on the court in rolling past Aleksandra Wozniak in a drama-free fourth-round victory, setting up a match against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova has responded to the guidance she’s been receiving from new coach Larisa Savchenko, winning in Stuttgart and reaching the singles final in Rome, and has the power to match Williams’ barrage of baseline groundstrokes.

Nevertheless, Williams’ mental toughness should be enough to propel her into the semifinals. If she makes it that far, Serena won’t have to face fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who was beaten by Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round. It’s looking more likely that Williams will shine again on another big stage and take on Safina for the women’s championship.

French Open: Breaking down the final rounds

The Serbian has become the first big name in the men’s tournament to fall.

He has reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in each of the last two years, but could do little against Kohlschreiber, playing for the third time in three days.

Roger Federer made it through to the fourth round, despite losing another set, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Andy Roddick advanced, reaching the fourth round for his first time by beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Roddick is only the second American to advance this far at the clay-court major since Andre Agassi in 2003, the same year Roddick won the US Open.

Robby Ginepri also made the fourth round in Paris last year.

Good result

"It’s three matches,” said Roddick, who had seven aces and only 11 unforced errors.
"It’s a lot better than I’ve done here before.”

Roddick has reached at least the semi-finals at the other three majors.

Besides winning the 2003 US Open, he also is a two-time runner-up at Wimbledon.

But at the French Open, Roddick’s best performance before this year was the third round in his 2001 debut.

"I like my chances maybe more than the other years,” Roddick said.
"I feel like I’m moving a little bit better on this stuff. I’m able to kind of slide into my forehand.”

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro also advanced, beating Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, No 11 Gael Monfils of France, No 16 Tommy Robredo of Spain and Tommy Haas of Germany also advanced to the fourth round.

Dementieva out

On the women’s side, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva lost to Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Dementieva’s exit came a day after third seed Venus Williams lost in straight sets.

Stosur converted seven of her 15 break points against Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up at Roland Garros.

"I just feel I’m far away from … being in good shape,” Dementieva said.

"I feel like I couldn’t perform any better.”

Stosur has never before reached the fourth round at the French.

She made it that far at the 2006 Australian Open, but has never played in the quarterfinals at a major.

"As that match went on today I knew I could get there because I was playing (well) enough and was handling the conditions and everything maybe a little bit better than her,” Stosur said.

Fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic and No 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova easily advanced to the fourth round.

Jankovic defeated 73rd-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia 6-1, 6-1, and Kuznetsova beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-3.

"I was just doing my thing,” Kuznetsova said.

"I was depending on myself and not on her. … I think I controlled all of the match.”

Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, reached the French Open final in 2006 but lost to Justine Henin.

No. 9 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus completed her comeback over No. 22 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 24 Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada and unseeded Virginie Razzano of France also advanced.

Djokovic eliminated in Paris

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, has now fallen at the third round in each of the last three years.

Szavay, the 29th seed from Hungary, stormed through the first set and then outplayed Williams in the second to set up a meeting with Dominika Cibulkova.

Top seed Dinara Safina beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-0 and Ana Ivanovic overcame Iveta Benesova 6-0 6-2.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Williams was inferior to Szavay in every department and missed the opportunity to face 20th seed Cibulkova, who overcame Argentina’s Gisela Dulko 6-4 6-2, for a place in the quarter-final.

Szavay wrapped up the first set in just 30 minutes – yanking the 2002 runner-up from side to side and illustrating her impressive footwork at the net.

Williams gave herself a glimmer of hope by breaking the Hungarian’s serve to lead 4-3 in the second set but, with the gusting wind playing havoc with her service throw-up, she lost the next three games and saw her hopes of a first title at Roland Garros ended for another year.

Defending champion Ivanovic is still yet to drop a set at this year’s Roland Garros and has reached round four, where she will play either Victoria Azarenka or Carla Suarez Navarro, for the third successive year.

The eighth seed has conceded only five games since her hard-fought victory over Italy’s Sara Errani in round one.

She continues to wear protective strapping on the front of her right knee but showed no signs of injury as she battled through game one and then broke Bensova in games two, four and six.

Ivanovic clinched the set at the first time of asking when her opponent sent a backhand long.

The pair traded early breaks in the second set but Ivanovic made the move in game six, grabbing her fifth break of the match to for 4-2 up and close in on victory.

After holding serve for 5-2, she moved to match point with a wonderful sliced drop-shot and clinched the win with an unreturnable forehand.

"The score doesn’t indicate how hard I had to work for some points," said the Serb. "She started playing much, much better in the second set and started hitting the ball much heavier.

"I just played really good and stayed in the moment and did what I had to do out there.

"I feel fit and ready to handle any kind of opponent. My game is coming back and I feel more comfortable. These kind of matches help for the tough matches ahead in the second week."

France’s Aravane Rezai reached the fourth round for the first time with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 triumph over 16-year-old Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher De Brito.

The match was not without controversy, however, as Rezai demanded the umpire intervene when her opponent’s screaming reached ear-piercing volumes.

"It’s very disturbing, it’s disturbing me," she told him before insisting he consult the Grand Slam supervisor on the issue. "Please, there is a limit, enough."

De Brito did not just shriek as she hit the ball but also when Rezai sent shots long. She annoyed the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd further by slamming her racket into the ground after losing some points.

The world number 132 could be seen applauding the crowd in a sarcastic manner as she was booed off court.

"I can do nothing about it (my screaming)," De Brito, making her, Grand Slam debut, protested during the match.

Asked about it earlier in the week she said: "It’s just something I’ve done always since I started playing tennis. I’m going to keep on doing it, because it’s really part of my game.

"I don’t mind if people think it’s bad or not. I just keep on doing it."

Venus crashes out of French Open

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal looked his usual dominant self in the first round, beating Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros.

“At the beginning, I didn’t quite get the best feelings, but I won in three sets. That’s very positive,” Nadal said. “I should have won more easily … but it was a difficult match.”

Roger Federer, the man Nadal beat in the last three French Open finals, had an easier time in his opening match, defeating Alberto Martin of Spain 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Dinara Safina, the top-seeded player in the women’s draw, advanced with No. 3 Venus Williams and unseeded Maria Sharapova.

Nadal’s win bettered the French Open record held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81. Nadal also equaled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81. Evert did not play at the French Open from 1976-78.

Nadal was broken three times by Daniel, but the top-seeded Spaniard remained perfect on the French Open’s red clay as he tries to become the first player to win five straight titles at Roland Garros.

“His backhand is better than his forehand, but I think I made it a bit easy for him,” Nadal said. “That’s my opinion.”

Federer has won 13 major titles, but he still needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Against Martin, who missed the last two French Open tournaments because of injury and then by failing to qualify, Federer appeared to play effortlessly.

“Once I got the upper hand, things were pretty much in control,” Federer said. “I served well when I had to, and mixed it up. That’s how I want to play. I’m happy to be through without a fright.”

Also advancing on the men’s side were sixth-seeded Andy Roddick of the United States, No. 10 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, No. 17 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 23 Robin Soderling of Sweden, No. 30 Victor Hanescu of Romania and No. 32 Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

Roddick beat French wild-card entry Romain Jouan 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to win a match at the French Open for the first time since 2005.

Safina routed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-0, 6-0, spraying shots to all parts of the court.

“I was just playing point by point, game by game, and it ended up like this,” said Safina, who with Marat Safin forms the only brother-sister combination to have held the No. 1 ranking.

Keothavong had a couple of chances against Safina, but she wasted two break points in the third game of the first set, and led 40-0 in the fourth game of the second but couldn’t hold on.

“When that’s happening to you all you want to do is get on the scoreboard, but I wasn’t able to do that,” said Keothavong, who saved four match points before Safina hit a forehand winner down the line. “It just kept getting harder and harder.”

Victoria Azarenka and Ana Ivanovic won 6-0, 6-0 at the French Open last year, and Serena Williams did it in 2003.

Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, survived a sudden second-set slump to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. She won the match’s first five games, while Mattek-Sands asked for a medical timeout during the first set so a trainer could look at her right wrist.

“I’m definitely a third-set player,” Williams said. “Once I get to the third set … I feel a new level coming.”

Williams has never won the French Open, but she did reach the final in 2002 when she lost to little sister Serena. Overall, Williams holds a 36-12 record at Roland Garros, giving her the most wins of any player in the women’s draw at the tournament.

Sharapova played with a bandage on her right shoulder, and she struggled in the first set before beating Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The unseeded Russian was broken three times in the first set, but she opened the second with four straight wins before being broken once again. Before the start of the next game, Yakimova called for a trainer to work on her lower back.

Sharapova as playing in a Grand Slam match for the first time since last year’s Wimbledon. She made her season debut in singles this month in Poland, reaching the quarterfinals in her first tournament since taking time off because of the shoulder injury. The three-time major champion needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

No. 15 Zheng Jie of China, No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, No. 22 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and No. 29 Agnes Szavay of Hungary also advanced to the second round. No. 23 Alisa Kleybanova of Russia was upset by Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, and No. 14 Flavia Pennetta of Italy was eliminated by Alexa Glatch of the United States 6-1, 6-1.

Nadal, Federer advance to 2nd round at French Open

The second-ranked Federer broke a sluggish Nadal once in both sets before firing his sixth ace to win his 15th Masters Series title on the second match point. Federer also won here in 2006 when the event was played indoors on a hard court.

“There are no positives, there is little to analyze,” said Nadal, the 2005 champion. “He broke and broke and I went home.”

It was only the second victory Federer has on clay against his top rival, with the other coming at the Hamburg final two years ago. The win also ended Federer’s five-match losing streak to Nadal, a stretch that included losses in the finals at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Australia.

Federer called his first win over Nadal since the 2007 Masters Cup “very satisfying.” Especially after being left in tears in February following his defeat to Nadal at Melbourne.

“I thought I took all the right decisions today. In the end it was a perfect game for me,” the Swiss player said after drawing even with Nadal in Masters titles. “(You) stay positive and I did. I got the win I needed badly.”

Earlier, top-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia won her second straight title on clay by beating Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2, 6-4, in the women’s final.

Federer also ended Nadal’s 33-match clay winning streak. The Spaniard will be going for a fifth straight title at the French Open beginning on May 25.

“I don’t think he’s going to take any damage away from this,” Federer said. “I’m sure he’s going to be rock solid in Paris again.”

Nadal sounded so after only a fifth loss in his last 155 matches on clay.

“To me, this tournament has nothing to do with Paris. This tournament is practically another surface compared to Paris,” said Nadal, who was troubled with the odd bounces and faster pace brought on by higher altitude. “The conditions favored him more than me.”

Only Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe have met in more finals — 20 — as the pair played for a 16th time with Nadal having earned 11 titles. He leads the overall series 13-7.

Federer and Nadal joked after receiving their trophies in a scene that contrasted with the one in February when Federer was in tears after losing to Nadal in the Australian Open final.

“Sorry to spoil the party,” Federer told the crowd from the Manolo Santana center court, where the rivals played in front of Nadal’s biggest supporters for the first time.

Federer, who is also the only top-10 player to have ever beaten Nadal on clay, saved two Nadal break chances before converting his first try in the ninth game.

Federer slapped a forehand winner down the near line to set up the point and converted when Nadal weakly backhanded into net. Federer served out to love to take the opening set.

“He was simply better than me,” Nadal said.

Nadal’s grueling semifinal win against Novak Djokovic took its toll as he failed to reach many balls he would normally get.

“It doesn’t help to play four hours yesterday,” Nadal said.

Federer applied a soft drop to set up a break chance in the fifth game of the second set and took a 3-2 lead after Nadal hit long.

Nadal rallied the 12,500 spectators at the “Magic Box” after setting up a break chance in the final game, but the Spaniard slapped his cross-court backhand wide.

Federer netted his first match point but replied with his 25th winner to close it out. Nadal, who has won five titles this season, had only 12 winners.

“Things are falling into place and of course it’s the right time to get the victory,” said Federer, who will try for his first French Open title after a first Masters title since Cincinnati in 2007.

Safina overpowered her 18-year-old opponent with 24 winners and three break points for her 11th career title.

“Since I became No. 1 I’m playing better and better,” the 23-year-old said.

Wozniacki, facing a top-ranked player for the first time, will become the first Dane to crack the top-10 in next week’s rankings after reaching her third final of the season.

Safina is 14-1 on clay this season and will go into Roland Garros buoyed by her recent success on the surface after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and Stuttgart.

“I was feeling very comfortable from the start of the match and I was trying to be as aggressive as I could,” she said. “But even in the key moments I was very strong.”

Roger Federer beats Rafael Nadal to win Madrid Open