Federer breezes through first round in Paris

Switzerland's Roger Federer has started the bid for his first French Open tennis title with an efficient straight-sets win over Sam Querrey of the United States.

World number one Federer, runner-up at Roland Garros for the past two seasons, defeated Querrey 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes.

Querrey threatened to make a game of it after breaking the Federer serve in the fourth game of the opening set but it was his only real success against the Swiss’s service.

“You cannot win the title today but the first round is always a dangerous match, so I am pleased,” Federer said in a courtside interview.

The Swiss admitted that the first set had been “nerve-wracking” but once he settled he “played a little better”.

Federer, 12 times a grand slam champion, will face Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen or Albert Montanes of Spain in the second round.

In first round matches on Monday featuring Swiss women, tenth seed Patty Schnyder defeated Ekaterina Bychkova of Russia 6-3, 6-4 while Timea Bacsinszky beat Tamira Paszek of Australia, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

A match between Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka, ninth in the ATP ranking, and Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany was rescheduled for Tuesday.