Sloppy Federer labours through first match

Tennis: Roger Federer made hard work of his opening match at the French Open on Sunday before claiming an error-strewn 7-5 7…

Tennis: Roger Federer made hard work of his opening match at the French Open on Sunday before claiming an error-strewn 7-5 7-6 6-2 victory over Argentine qualifier Diego Hartfield.

The world number one and top seed has not played since his Rome Masters final defeat by Rafael Nadal two weeks ago and trailed 3-0 in the first set before eventually subduing an opponent playing his first match at tour level.

Also in the French Open, Spaniard Tommy Robredo beat Czech Tomas Zib 6-4 6-2 6-2 to reach the second round earlier in the day.

Seventh seed Robredo, who won the Hamburg Masters last weekend, wrapped up his opener in two hours against the world number 109.

Robredo has never made it past the quarter-finals in a grand slam. He reached that stage twice, each time at Roland Garros. Last year he was denied a semi-final berth by Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Britain's Tim Henman also made it through the first round after beating Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen 6-3 6-4 4-6 6-4.

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