PARIS, May 26 (UPI) -- Defending champion Serena Williams needed just 54 minutes Monday to advance to the second round of the French Open.
The women's world No. 1 and current holder of all the grand slam titles thrashed Barbara Rittner of Germany, 6-2, 6-1.
"I felt pretty good," Williams said. "Normally when you go into the first round, I'm a little nervous because no one wants to lose in the first round, especially of a Grand Slam, but I felt like I'm almost where I want to be."
She broke Rittner in the third game with a backhand dropshot on the line that gave her a 2-1 lead.
Rittner hit back immediately to level the set at 2-2, but Williams' great returns and overall power proved too much, and the German managed to win just one more game.
Williams was so dominant in the second set that she needed only 10 minutes to grab a 4-0 lead, and eventually wrapped up the match by breaking Rittner's serve at love.
"It was upsetting to lose my serve there because I wanted to be more focused, I had to keep my bearings straight," Williams said, "but the court was playing well, it was not too slow nor fast."
The 21-year-old American began her glorious run a year ago at the French, then claimed Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and this year's Australian Open.
She beat her older sister, Venus, in all four finals.
"It takes a new level for me to be able to win another Grand Slam, and obviously I would like to win here again," Serena said. "A lot of players believe that I am the player to beat in any tournament, but that is why I play tennis -- to be remembered."
Also in the women's top 16 seeds, No. 16 Ai Sugiyama (16) beat Virginia Ruano Pascual, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
On the men's side, No. 5 Roger Federer was upset by unseeded Luis Horna, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3); tenth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand was knocked off by Dominik Hrbaty, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5; and No. 11 Rainer Schuettler, the Australian Open runner-up, beat Cecil Mamiit, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Inconsistency once again dogged Federer.
Monday, he was sent packing by the 88th-ranked player in the world.
"Obviously it's a big disappointment," Federer said. "I am very sad to leave so early. It's not fun. I thought I had a better chance than that."
He came to Roland Garros with tournament wins at Marseille, Dubai and Munich, but committed 82 unforced errors on the way to his second straight first-round loss at the French. Last year, he was beaten by Hicham Arazi of Israel.
"I definitely think I helped him," Federer said. "He didn't play a bad match, but I didn't play a good match and so one helps the other. I'm very disappointed in my performance today. I know that this year I was a favorite here, but obviously this surface is extremely hard."
Horna, who was routed by Federer in Miami only two months ago, won his first Grand Slam match in his third attempt. The 22-year-old from Lima immediately declared the victory his career highlight.
Meanwhile, second seed and 1999 winner Andre Agassi opened with an easy 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Karol Beck of Slovakia in 95 minutes.
Agassi, 33, making his 15th appearance at the French, has a chance at a Grand Slam himself after destroying the field at Melbourne for his eighth career major.
No. 4 Carlos Moya of Spain, the 1998 champion, battled past lucky loser Filippo Volandri of Italy, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, dispatched Julien Boutter of France, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
Also, No. 13 Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic cruised past French wild card Julien Benneteau, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; and qualifier Galo Blanco of Spain upended countryman and two-time French runner-up, No. 16 Alex Corretja, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.
