Roddick and Petrova caught cold in Paris

Chilly Roland Garros proved an inhospitable place for Andy Roddick and Nadia Petrova yesterday when both hobbled out of the French Open in the first round.

Men's fifth seed Roddick quit his match against Spain's Alberto Martin when trailing 6-4 7-5 1-0 with a recurrence of a left ankle injury.

Petrova, the in-form Russian third seed, was hampered by a thigh injury sustained in practice and lost 6-2 6-2 to Japan's Akiko Morigami.

Players donned long sleeves and caps while spectators pulled on woolly hats and scarves on a day when temperatures barely scraped above 10°C in the French capital.

Returning Swiss Martina Hingis and defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, though, warmed to their task with comfortable first round wins.

Hard-hitting Roddick has never gone further than round three at Roland Garros and his chances against clay specialist Martin were lessened when he injured his ankle at the World Team Championship.

The American was being outfoxed by Martin, the world number 68, on Court Suzanne Lenglen when, after a chat with the trainer, he decided not to risk any further injury with the Wimbledon grasscourt grand slam less than four weeks away.

Petrova has long been in the shadow of her grand slam-winning compatriots Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anastasia Myskina. But she has won three claycourt titles this season and had real hopes of making a breakthrough in Paris.

"I was really coming in all excited here. It was very unfortunate what happened to me," the Muscovite lamented.

Hingis unfazed

Hingis, back at Roland Garros after a five-year absence, trounced American Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-2 in the first, and probably coldest, match of the day.

The claycourt event is the only grand slam missing from Hingis's collection. In 1999 she was mocked by the Paris crowd after throwing a tantrum during her defeat in the final by Steffi Graf.

Yesterday, though, the 25-year-old was all smiles, despite the weather.

"I was like ouff!" said Hingis, who won her first title since returning from a three-year break at the Italian Open this month.

"But I'm from a cold country so it shouldn't be such a big factor."

She is on a quarter-final collision course with Kim Clijsters.

The Paris air had warmed a little by the time Henin-Hardenne took to centre court enclosed in a long-sleeved top. The Belgian was an impressive 6-3 6-0 winner over Estonian Maret Ani.

"It was freezing out there and pretty windy," said Henin. "I decided to play with long sleeves. That doesn't happen very often but you need to be careful, in this type of weather you can catch something very easily."

Petrova's defeat was a further boost for the Belgian, who was in line to face the imposing Russian in the last eight.

Chile's Fernando Gonzalez humbled former world number one Marat Safin of Russia 6-3 1-6 6-3 6-1.

Gonzalez, the ninth seed who reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros in 2003, had too much claycourt nous for the Russian who was left screaming in frustration on centre court.

On his part, Australian Lleyton Hewitt recovered from a sluggish start to overcome Czech Jan Hernych 7-6 3-6 6-2 6-0.

Hewitt, seeded 14th, was doubtful three days before the start of Roland Garros with a left ankle injury.

Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, who has never made it past the third round at Roland Garros, rattled through to round two with a 6-2 6-0 6-3 thrashing of Carlos Berlocq.

Andy Murray's debut was almost as painful to watch as it evidently was to play in. The Scot needed treatment for a back injury during a five-set defeat by fellow 19-year-old Gael Monfils of France. They made 68 unforced errors each.

Russia's 2004 champion Myskina, seeded 10 this year, outclassed Indian Sania Mirza 6-4 6-1.