Venus Williams ousted in first round

Women's second seed Venus Williams tumbled out of the French Open in the first round on Monday, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Austrian Barbara Schett.

The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion looked out of sorts throughout the match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, spooning ground strokes wide, long and into the net.

Schett, 25th in the WTA rankings, had lost her four previous matches against the world number two, but always looked in control in the French capital.

The Austrian had been enduring a poor claycourt season, losing at the second-round stage in Estoril and Berlin and the first round in Hamburg, Rome and Madrid.

She clinched her best result of the year on her fourth match point with a deep serve that Williams was unable to keep in court.

Williams became the second leading women's seed to lose on Monday after number five Amelie Mauresmo.

France's Mauresmo became the first seeded casualty at the French Open on Monday when she lost 7-5, 7-5 to unseeded German Jana Kandarr in the first round.

The fifth seed, winner of four tournaments this season and one of the favourites for the title, was booed off the Centre Court by her home crowd after squandering a 5-1 lead in the second set.

"At 5-1 down in the second set I just thought I've nothing to lose so why not win this set," Kandarr said.

"What helped is that I've beaten her before and she wasn't playing her best tennis today."

Earlier, top seed Gustavo Kuerten began his defence of the men's crown in emphatic fashion, crushing Argentine Guillermo Coria 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 on a sun-drenched Centre Court.

Kuerten, also Roland Garros champion in 1997, did not give Coria a chance as he stamped his authority on the match from the outset.

"I love being in Paris and am feeling fit for a third French Open title," the Brazilian said afterwards.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the seventh seed and 1996 champion, also wasted little time in dismissing Italian Federico Luzzi 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, while women's 15th seed Jelena Dokic crushed Adriana Gersi 6-0, 6-0 to make the perfect start to her campaign.

500TH VICTORY

Russian Kafelnikov, whose victory over lucky loser Luzzi was the 500th of his career, was in confident mood after the match.

"I know what I'm capable of," he said. "It's really just a question of confidence. I know I belong in the top 10 on any surface and when I'm playing my best tennis not many people can beat me."

Kafelnikov next plays Cecil Mamiit or Todd Martin, with the two Americans due to play their first-round match later on Monday.

Yugoslav Dokic, seeded for the first time in a Grand Slam tournament, showed Czech Gersi no mercy with a succession of drop shots and fiercely struck ground strokes on the Roland Garros Centre Court.

Dokic, who won her first WTA title in Rome a week ago, continued her fine form on clay to overwhelm her 76th-ranked opponent, and will play American Marissa Irvin or Dutchwoman Amanda Hopmans in the second round.

"I feel good about my game, especially after Rome," she said. "It has given me a lot of confidence.

"I was hitting the ball really well out there and am feeling good about this tournament."

In other early first-round action, Belgium's number 14 seed Justine Henin breezed past Shinobu Asagoe 6-3, 6-2.

HENMAN STRUGGLE

Men's 11th seed Tim Henman struggled past German qualifier Tomas Behrend 6-1, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 to reach the second round.

While Henman was never seriously threatened by the hard-hitting German, neither player was able to stamp his authority on the contest, particularly in the third set when the Briton twice served for the match only to be broken each time.

Henman quickly regrouped, however, needing only 21 minutes to close out the match and set up a second-round meeting with Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands or American Paul Goldstein.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the fourth seed and one of the favourites for the title, starts his campaign against Austria's Stefan Koubek later on Monday.

The Spaniard, a semifinalist last year, is the form player on clay in 2001, beating Kuerten in the Rome final earlier this month to land his first Masters Series title.