New Delhi: Rains have been playing spoilsport at the French Open in Paris and on Monday, too, only a few hours of play was possible.
But that was enough for Venus Williams to book her place in the second round. The American, who has five Grand Slam titles in her bag but had not won a Grand Slam match in 11 months beat 17-year-old Alize Cornet of France in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
The damp court and a three-hour delay did not trouble Venus as she broke Cornet in the 10th game and won the first set 6-4. The French teenage sensation hung but didn't have answers to the Americans' winners and finally Venus broke early in the second to win the set and the match.
"Yeah, I think my serve is okay. I think sometimes I just made some errors on the ground strokes. On the surface, I mean, I can serve big, but it's definitely important, the placement and to try to set myself up for the next shot. Because a lot of times, my serve is coming back, 'cause it's slower. And that's okay. I'm ready," Venus said after winning her match.
In the men's section fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko reached the second round beating Italy's Stefano Galvani 6-3, 6-1, 6-1.
Soon after the US Open semi-finalist won his match, the rain returned and play was stopped.
''I'm lucky,'' Davydenko said.
World No. 1 Roger Federer's match against Michael Russell of US was also interrupted. The Swiss was leading 6-4, 4-1 before the third rain delay of the day. He needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam,
Clay court master and two-time defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal was also scheduled to play Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in a match on center court.
The other matches interrupted included the No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia against Stephanie Foretz of France, while No. 6 Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic was to face Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland.
Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo will play no earlier than Wednesday, Day 4 of the tournament.
Eighty-two matches were scheduled for Tuesday - with more rain possible. On Sunday, only seven of the 24 scheduled matches even began because of about 5 1/2 hours of rain. They all finished, however.
In the completed match, No. 16 Li Na of China beat Sandra Kloesel of Germany 7-6 (4), 6-0, No. 19 Tathiana Garbin of Italy defeated Akiko Morigami of Japan 7-6 (2), 6-4, and No. 27 Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Jamea Jackson of the United States 6-1, 6-2.
No. 31 Severine Bremond was the only seeded player to lose. Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, the younger sister of 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, beat the Frenchwoman 6-3, 6-3.
(With inputs from AP)
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