Halep gets ball rolling at French Open

PARIS: Simona Halep, the 2014 runner-up, reached the French Open second round on Sunday as 2009 champion Roger Federer prepared to start his 62nd consecutive Grand Slam event.
Third seed Halep saw off Russian world number 91 Evgeniya Rodina 7-5, 6-4 and next faces either Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia or America’s Lauren Davis.
“It’s not easy to start a new tournament but I am happy to be back in Paris where I have so many great memories from last year,” said the 23-year-old Romanian who was broken three times and committed 26 unforced errors.
Rodina refused to wilt though and Halep was relieved to avoid any real headaches.
“It was a tough match, because it was first round and always is difficult to start the tournament,” she told reporters.
“Yeah, I did make some easy mistakes, but it’s normal and I accept that. Next round I will be better, for sure.”
Federer, one of a record 39 men over 30 in the main draw, began his quest for a second French Open title with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 first-round win against Colombian lucky loser Alejandro Falla.
The second-seeded Swiss, who has a record 17 grand slam titles to his name, barely broke sweat in his flashy pink shorts and lilac shirt as he booked a second-round meeting with either Spain’s Marcel Granollers or German qualifier Matthias Bachinger.
After misfiring a few backhands, Federer, who has not won a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2012, pocketed the opening set when Falla buried a backhand into the net.
Federer, who held serve throughout, broke twice in the second, and rounded it off on Falla’s serve when the Colombian failed to return a booming crosscourt forehand.
“I was good enough to make the finals on many occasions, so I feel like I know that I have done well here in previous years,” said Federer.
“I hope that that can help me a little bit. I’m playing good tennis, and if I do string it all together, it could be a successful tournament.”
Federer is seeded to meet compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.
The eighth-seeded 2014 Australian Open champion starts his campaign against Turkey’s world number 82 Marsel Ilhan.
Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori has yet to get beyond the fourth round in Paris but retained his claycourt title in Barcelona this year as well as making the semi-finals in Madrid.
He also has the added benefit of 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang as coach.
In other early matches on Sunday, German 22nd seed Philipp Kohlschreiber saw off Japan’s Go Soeda 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 while volatile Russian Mikhail Youzhny, a quarter-finalist in 2010, retired with a back injury after dropping the first two sets against Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur.
In the women’s singles, Russian ninth seed Ekaterina Makarova breezed past US wildcard Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-2.