• What the Deuce

Sunday start: Use it or lose it

Sam Stosur played in front of a half-empty stadium on Sunday morning © Getty Images

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When Sam Stosur made her way onto Court Philippe Chatrier, she could have been forgiven for double checking her diary. Wasn't this supposed to be the French Open - one of the four grand slams of the year?

So why was the main stadium half-empty? Stosur, a finalist at Roland Garros last year, was handed the honour of opening proceedings on the main court as the 2011 French Open got underway, but there was no fanfare, or even a hint of ceremony.

"There's still a lot more people practising today than playing matches," Stosur said after her straight-sets win over Iveta Benesova. "You've just got to get your head around it."

Since 2006 the French Open has started on a Sunday, and the first round matches are played over three days, with the tournament held over 15 days. The Sunday start is unique to the French Open, and you would expect the organisers to take full advantage of the extra day's earning potential.

Their efforts to make the opening Sunday a 'kids' day' is laudable, but the day's order of play was modest - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all had the day off, while in the women's draw there was no sign of world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, defending champion Francesca Schiavone or Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters.

Part of the thrill of a grand slam is the hectic first couple of days, with 256 singles players in action, it is almost impossible just keeping track of all the scores, but this excitement is part and parcel of a major event.

With no floodlights at Roland Garros and the constant threat of rain, it is easy to see why the organisers campaigned for an extra day. But when the fans were deprived of any real star names on the opening day, it felt almost like a small-scale tour event.

Stosur - seeded eighth in Paris - and world No. 7 David Ferrer were the biggest names in action on Sunday. No disrespect to either Ferrer or Stosur - both are top-ten players and have an outside chance of going all the way at Roland Garros, but they are not global superstars like Nadal or Clijsters.

Rafael Nadal was in action on Sunday, but only on the practice courts © PA Photos

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The absence of big names such as Venus and Serena Williams and Andy Roddick haven't helped, but it was a sleepy start to one of the four major events of the tennis calendar. Wimbledon starts with a bang - with the reigning men's champion opening proceedings on Centre Court.

What didn't help the matter is that for British viewers, the opening day clashed with London Rugby Sevens at Twickenham, the Spanish Grand Prix, and the final day of the Premier League season, so it is easy to see why the opening day of the French Open snuck under the radar for many sports fans.

Perhaps the organisers wanted to showcase the best of French tennis to the Parisian crowd - Chatrier saw home favourites Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and world No. 71 Mathilde Johansson in action, but top French players Gael Monfils and Marion Bartoli, as well as Richard Gasquet and Aravane Rezai were all given the day off.

World No. 80 Alize Cornet was one French player in action, and she admitted it was a strange feeling to play on the opening Sunday: "If I lose this match, it's as if I had not played the tournament at all," she said.

The smallest site of the four grand slams, the French Open often struggles to keep up with the likes of Wimbledon and the US Open. Restricted by issues such as planning regulations, the event is constrained by factors outside of its authority.

It cannot control the weather, but scheduling is firmly within their domain, and by producing such an underwhelming opening-day programme, the organisers have done themselves no favours.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.