Williams suffers shock defeat as Kuerten cruises

Venus Williams suffered a shock French Open defeat on Monday, losing 6-4 6-4 to Austrian Barbara Schett and exiting a Grand Slam tournament in the opening round for the first time in four years.

The Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, seeded second at Roland Garros, was joined on the sidelines by number five Amelie Mauresmo, who was jeered off court by the French crowd after losing 7-5 7-5 to Germany's Jana Kandarr.

The top men's players enjoyed a better day, however, number one seed Gustavo Kuerten beginning the defence of his title with an emphatic 6-1 7-5 6-4 victory over Argentine Guillermo Coria, and Juan Carlos Ferrero, seeded fourth, overcoming Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-2 6-2 6-3.

Williams, a quarter-finalist in the French capital last year, had won all four previous matches against Schett but never settled on the Parisian clay and the 25th-ranked Austrian clinched victory on her fourth match point.

ROUGH DAY

"I just had a rough day, a very rough day," the 20-year-old said Williams, who last lost in the first round of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 1997. "I just couldn't keep the ball in. It is not the happiest day of my life but hopefully I will learn something from this."

Schett was understandably delighted.

"I thought it was a good opportunity to play her in the first round - I knew I had a better chance in the first round than later in the tournament," she beamed.

"I just tried to stay calm out there. She didn't play her best tennis which helped me and I just played solid from the baseline."

Mauresmo, the winner of four tournaments this season, was booed off Centre Court after squandering a 5-1 lead in the second set against Kandarr.

The Frenchwoman had been considered a favourite for the title and was devastated by the defeat.

"It is one of my greatest disappointments," she said. "I've never been a favourite in a Grand Slam tournament so it was something new for me."

PREVIOUS FORM

Mauresmo had a 15-2 win/loss record on clay in 2001 going into Monday's match against the 24-year-old Kandarr, ranked 56 in the world.

"I just never got into the match, it's as simple as that," she said. "I never really felt that I could relax."

Kuerten, also Roland Garros champion in 1997, issued an ominous warning to the rest of the draw after his comfortable win.

"I love playing in Paris and am feeling really good here," he said. "It's always special for me to come here and play. It's exciting and I always have good vibes.

"I started so well, served strongly and I am feeling good for another title."

One player who will not be concerned by Kuerten's claims is Ferrero. The Spaniard beat the Brazilian in the Rome final to win his maiden Masters title earlier this month and was equally impressive in his first-round match.

The 21-year-old wrapped up the first two sets in 30 minutes each with some sparkling tennis before closing the match out in the third.

"The first rounds of these tournaments are always hard so I'm pleased I didn't make too many mistakes," he said. "I passed the first test with a good score."

PERFECT START

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.

Kafelnikov's victory was the 500th of his career, and he was in confident mood after his match.

"I know what I'm capable of," he said. "It's really just a question of confidence," he said.

In other first-round action, Belgium's number 14 seed Justine Henin breezed past Shinobu Asagoe 6-3 6-2 and number 12 Kim Clijsters beat Argentine Maria-Emilia Salerni in straight sets.

Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva became the third seed to fall in the women's draw, though, the number 13 losing 6-1 5-7 6-3 to Italian Silvia Farina Elia, while 1997 French Open champion Iva Majoli lost to Italian Rita Grande.

Number three seed Lindsay Davenport pulled out of the tournament on Sunday because of injury.

On the men's side, sixth-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in four sets and number 11 Tim Henman struggled past German qualifier Tomas Behrend 6-1 6-4 5-7 6-0.

The first men's seeded casualty was number 15 Jan-Michael Gambill of the U.S., who lost in four sets to Dane Kristian Pless, and he was joined by 12th-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement who lost in five sets to Argentina's Mariano Puerta.

But there were wins for 14th seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden and local favourite Cedric Pioline who beat Andrei Pavel of Romania in four sets.

In other matches there were straight sets wins for American Michael Chang over Germany's Alexander Popp and compatriot Andy Roddick who overcame Australian Scott Draper.