• French Open, Day One: Plays of the Day

Federer to fight, Hewitt hit and Williams ditches ghost

May 26, 2013

As the French Open got underway on Sunday, tennis fans were treated to the usual brilliance of Roger Federer, a great comeback from a home favourite, and a former world No. 1 who was on the wrong end of a thrilling five-setter.

Federer finds feet early on French soil

Federer will go down as one of the greatest players to have picked up a tennis racket. His record of 17 grand slams could take some time to be eclipsed, if possible, but just imagine how many more majors he could have added to that tally?

The Swiss has lost four finals at the French Open to you know who, and could he really challenge Rafael Nadal and win a second Roland Garros trophy? If anything from his first round win over Pablo Carreno-Busta is anything to go by, then the 31-year-old could have an opportunity to topple the undisputed "King of Clay".

Serena banishes the ghost of 2012

This time in 2012, Serena Williams was packing her bags after suffering her only ever first round exit at a grand slam when succumbing to Virginie Razzino in Paris. On Sunday, once proved quite enough for the 2002 Roland Garros champion as Williams powered past Anna Tatishvili in straight sets.

The world No. 1 has enjoyed a perfect start to her clay court season to date and was just too good for the Georgian Tatishvili. The number one seed displayed a fine first showing in this year's tournament, powerfully dismissing her opponent and only dropping one game in the opening match. It is clear to see that last year hurt Williams, and this time around she made her intentions clear from day one.

Hewitt turns back the clock. Briefly

When Lleyton Hewitt triumphed at Wimbledon in 2002, it was the Australian's second grand slam victory and a sign he was set to be the one to beat.

Top of the rankings at the same time, Hewitt did not push on as was expected, and on Sunday at the French Open his match against Gilles Simon was rather like the story of over a decade ago.

Leading by two sets to love, Hewitt was playing fine tennis, and here was a player who appeared to have not suffered from injuries down the years.

However, the Aussie was unable to finish off the Frenchman, and with it Simon did to Hewitt what the latter has done 49 times before in his career; winning a match in five sets after coming from 2-0 down to emerge victorious.

Had Hewitt crossed the line, the fans may well have been treated to the infamous "Come On!" from Hewitt. Fortunately (or unfortunately for Hewitt fans), they witnessed one of their very own fighting back.

Ferrer forces fans to sleep

David Ferrer is a player who has underachieved in his career with his failure to win a grand slam, and being unable to reach a final.

Time and time again many players on the circuit have praised the workrate of Ferrer, and it is easy to see why as the little Spaniard does not know when to give in.

But, it was hard to believe that Ferrer - seeded fourth for the event in the absence of Andy Murray - actually made some of the crowd fall to sleep in his match against Marinko Matosevic.

Ferrer may not have the dazzle of Djokovic, the flair of Federer or the roar of Rafa, but the ankle-biter does have plenty of grit and determination.

Not good enough for the fans it seems.

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