Safina defeats French Open

Keothavong, the world number 48, had come into the tournament buoyed by her performance in Warsaw last week where she became the first British woman in 26 years to make the semi-finals of a WTA event.

But her sun-blessed Roland Garros debut turned into a nightmare on centre court as Safina showed no mercy racing to victory in just over an hour on the back of three breaks of serve in each set.

The 25-year-old Keothavong had the minor satisfaction of saving four match points before the world number one secured victory with another pinpoint, down the line forehand.

It was one of 16 winners for Safina compared to just two for the hapless Briton.

"I'm not going to go away and slit my wrists," said Keothavong. "You have to find a way to laugh about it. What else is there to do? I'm sure there will be jokes about it, but I can take it."

Safina said it was hard to feel sympathy for her opponent.

"When we shook hands, she said: 'At least you could have given me one game'," revealed the Russian.

Japanese 33-year-old Ai Sugiyama, playing in her 15th Roland Garros, joined Keothavong at the exit door going down 6-3, 6-2 to France's Aravane Rezai.

In the men's first round, Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko, twice a semi-finalist, eased past Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 with compatriot Mikhail Youzhny also advancing with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-4 win over Luxemburg's Gilles Muller.

Later, top seed Rafael Nadal, bidding for a record fifth successive French Open title, starts his campaign against Brazilian qualifier Marcos Daniel.