Mauresmo earns Paris win

Amelie Mauresmo secured a morale-boosting victory in the first round of the Open Gaz de France in Paris.

Defending champion Petrova crashes out in the first round

Amelie Mauresmo secured a morale-boosting victory in the first round of the Open Gaz de France in Paris. The former world number one has slipped to 18th in the world rankings after a dip in form but she got her bid for a third title off to the perfect start with a 6-1 6-2 win over Julie Ditty. Having gone out in the third round of the Australian Open, Mauresmo is looking for a return to form and she was much too strong for Ditty, the American qualifier. Her prospects of landing the title were improved by the first round exit of defending champion Nadia Petrova, who lost in three sets to Kateryna Bondarenko. Petrova, the fifth seed, put her 7-6 3-6 6-4 defeat down to a lack of fitness and confidence after a run of 12 months without a tournament victory. "She went for a lot of winners, she didn't miss at all," Petrova said. "I was missing all the shots. "I'm still not in the best physical shape. I feel a little bit too slow to get to the ball. That's why I'm not in position for my shots." Agnes Szavay of Hungary, seeded seventh, advanced comfortably with a 6-1 6-1 win over Olga Govortsova of Belarus. The top four seeds have all received first-round byes and will enter the tournament on Wednesday.