World number one Amelie Mauresmo reached the second round of the French Open with a solid 6-4 6-4 win over American Meghann Shaughnessy today.
The centre-court favourite, whose last match had ended in a 6-1 6-2 thrashing by Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Berlin semi-finals, outclassed the world number 59 in one hour and 40 minutes.
Mauresmo will meet the winner of an all-Russian contest between Anastassia Rodionova and Vera Dushevina for a third-round spot.
"It's satisfying for a first round even if it was not the match of the century," said Mauresmo, who has never progressed beyond the last eight at Roland Garros.
"Her game is based on a good serve. She does not put a lot of rhythm in the match, which is not easy to deal with."
The French top seed, who made her grand slam breakthrough in January by winning the Australian Open, admitted on Friday she was a bit short of match practice after being forced to withdraw from the Rome tournament with a sore throat.
However, she did not appear to suffer from any ill-effects as she capitalised on a first-game break to wrap the opening set in 48 minutes.
Mauresmo appeared to be annoyed by her opponent's long balls throughout the match.
Shaughnessy, who had never beaten Mauresmo in all three of their meetings, saved a break point in the fifth game of the second set with a fine passing shot but ended up dropping her serve after miscuing a forehand wide.
The Geneva-based Mauresmo, who has often cracked under pressure in Paris, showed no sign of nerves when she too had to save four break points in the eighth game.
Shaughnessy eventually broke her on her fifth chance to level the set at 4-4 only for Mauresmo to recapture her advantage in the following game.
She finished her work on her second match point with an ace.
"It was a very close match. Unfortunately she was more aggressive in the key moments," said Shaughnessy.
