A Year ago, Serena Williams left the French Open in tears. Yesterday, she walked on Centre Court to hearty applause. Whether the crowd was cheering her fashion bravado — Williams wore an all-fuschia ensemble — or easing her return to the scene of bad memories is no matter. ‘‘It was really exciting to come back,’’ said Serena.Parisian fans turned against Williams last year when she questioned calls during a semi final loss to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. They jeered her and applauded her mistakes. This time the mood was friendly.‘‘I got out there and I got nice applause,’’ said Williams, seeded no. 2 behind Henin-Hardenne. The ensemble ‘fuchsia with red hints’, she said was a two-piece miniskirt outfit with matching headband, a pompom-like ponytail holder and huge hoop earrings.Title defence drowns out pain for FerreroDefending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero says the thought of withdrawing because of injury was more painful than playing with bruised ribs. The top-seeded Spaniard took painkiller injections to numb his right side and rallied to beat Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.‘‘It’s Roland Garros and I’m trying to defend a title, you know,’’ said Ferrero, adding that he felt no pain during the match but had some trouble with his serve. Ferrero bruised his right ribs in a fall on May 8 while practicing in Spain. Earlier this week, he said there was a chance he would withdraw. Don’t ask Safin about his formMarat Safin’s nowhere near his peak form and he doesn’t like being reminded about it. ‘‘How many times they ask me this question?’’ said the Russian, winner of the 2000 US Open. ‘‘Far away. I’m far away. I’m far away.’’In other words: ‘‘I’m definitely not in the best shape right now,’’ said Safin. Now 24, Safin is unseeded for the first time in his past 13 Grand Slam appearances. ‘‘I’m missing a little bit of confidence,’’ said Safin, who has complained about being burned out. ‘‘The schedule is very tough. It’s tournament after tournament,’’ Safin said. ‘‘You can’t play and win them all.’’
