Hingis hisses; Goran Ivanisevic misses

Paris, May 24: World number one Martina Hingis eased into the second round of the French Open women's singles with a straight sets victor...

Paris, May 24: World number one Martina Hingis eased into the second round of the French Open women8217;s singles with a straight sets victory on Monday, but defending men8217;s champion Carlos Moya of Spain was pushed all the way before finally winning.

Hingis, the top seed, took exactly one hour to defeat Hopmans 6-1, 6-4 when the tournament started Monday under cloudy skies on the slow red clay at Roland Garros. Moya had to rally from two sets down to beat Austrian Markus Hipfl. The fourth-seeded Spaniard beat Hipfl 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4quot;It was tough to come back,quot; Moya said. quot;I was a bit nervous. He fought really well, but winning is the important thing. It would have been a shame to go out in the first round as defending champion.quot;

Hingis, meanwhile, is now set for a second-round meeting with the player she beat in the Australian Open final in January 8212; unseeded French powerhouse Amelie Mauresmo.

Goran Ivanisevic, seeded 15, had the dubious distinction of being the first men8217;s seed to fall when he lostin four sets to talented Moroccan Hicham Arazi.

Other early men8217;s winners included Australian slow court specialist Richard Fromberg, rising Slovak star Dominik Hrbaty and the German Jens Knippschild.HUBER WITHDRAWS: Anke Huber of Germany, troubled by a foot injury, withdrew from the women8217;s singles. Huber, 30th in the WTA rankings, was to have faced Laura Golarsa of Italy in her first-round match at Roland Garros. She was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Elena Dementieva of Russia, ranked 127th. Huber was a semi-finalist at the French Open in 1993.

How the seeds fared

Men singles 1st round: 1-Yevgeny Kafelnikov Russia bt Michael Chang US 6-2 5-7 6-0 7-6 10-8; 4-Carlos Moya Spain beat Markus Hipfl Austria 3-6 1-6 6-4 6-2 6-4; 5-Richard Krajicek Netherlands bt Jan-Michael Gambill US 7-6 7-4 6-3 6-2; Hicham Arazi Morocco bt 15-Goran Ivanisevic Croatia 6-4 1-6 6-3 6-1.

Women singles 1st round: 1-Martina Hingis Swiss bt Amanda Hopmans Netherlands 6-1 6-4; 4-JanaNovotna Czech bt Ludmila Cervanova Slovakia 6-2 7-6 7-4; 10-Serena Williams US bt Laurence Curtois Belgium 6-4 6-0; 15-Barbara Schett Austria bt Henrieta Nagyova Slovakia 6-1 6-2.

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Men singles: Marcelo Filippini Uruguay bt Laurence Tieleman Italy 6-4 6-1 6-4; Dominik Hrbaty Slovakia bt Julien Boutter France 5-7 6-4 7-5 7-5; Vincent Spadea US bt Mark Woodforde Australia 7-6 7/5 6-3 7-5; Jiri Novak Czech bt Daniel Nestor Canada 6-2 6-2 6-2; Richard Fromberg Australia bt Anthony Dupuis France 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-3; Jens Knippschild Germany bt Lionel Roux France 6-4 6-3 6-0; Jim Courier US bt Alex Calatrava Spain 6-1 6-3 7-5.

Women singles: Barbara Rittner Germany bt Magui Serna Spain 3-6 7-6 7-5 6-2; Natasha Zvereva Belarus bt Christina Papadaki Greece 6-3 7-5; Anne Kremer Lux bt Maureen Drake Canada 6-2 6-3; Kveta Hrdlickova Czech bt Larisa Neiland Latvia 6-4 6-1; Mariana Diaz Oliva Arg bt Jolene Watanabe US 6-0 6-2; Adriana Gersi Czech btMarlene Weingartner Germany 6-4 6-0.