"I just hung in there," said the Russian, who could complete her career grand slam set in Paris next week.

"It was far from my best tennis today but you try to learn from your mistakes. Not many things were working for me today."

Unfortunately for former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero one of the things not working for him was his right leg.

The 2003 winner was a set up and 2-2 against Brazilian journeyman Marcos Daniel when he called it a day, making it the first time he had failed to pass the first round of a red clay tournament.

"At the moment, I don't know exactly what the problem is," said the deflated Spaniard.

"Doctors tell me they know, and they told me they could cure it. But at the end of the day, it still hurts."

Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic stole a march on his rivals by booking a place in the third round for the loss of just five games against Spaniard Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen.

While Nadal was completing his first-round win and top seed Roger Federer was learning that Spaniard Albert Montanes would be his second-round opponent, Australian Open champion Djokovic needed just 80 minutes to book his last-32 place with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win.

Australian 25th seed Lleyton Hewitt prospered with the sun on his back, sending another home hope crashing with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win over Nicolas Mahut.

Seeds David Ferrer and Radek Stepanek also enjoyed comfortable first-round progress.

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