Roddick looks ahead after exit

ANDY RODDICK hopes to recapture his fitness in time for Wimbledon after being forced to retire from the first round of the French Open with a left ankle injury.

The 23-year-old American, who has not won a title this season, was losing 6-4 7-5 1-0 to unseeded Spaniard Alberto Martin when he called for a trainer.

With his ankle unable to be taped up before the end of the third set, the fifth seed decided to retire after one hour and 41 minutes of action.

He has now set his sights on being fit for Wimbledon, which begins on June 26.

“It’s been my ankle since last week,” Roddick said. “Early on in the match, I tweaked it a little bit and it started affecting the way I landed on my serve.

“Not much else was working beside my serve. It was a lost cause I think.”

Meanwhile, Martin progressed to the second round for the first time in five years.

The 27-year-old said: “I did not really know what was happening with Roddick but I think I played a great match and I look forward to doing it again on Thursday.”

Unseeded Russian Marat Safin, a former semi-finalist at Roland Garros, lost 6-3 1-6 6-3 6-1 to Fernando Gonzalez, the ninth seed from Chile.

Earlier yesterday, fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic hammered Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in straight sets to book his ticket to the second round.

The 26-year-old Croat, who won the Paris Masters Series last November, as well as the Chennai and Zagreb events this year, is ranked third in the world and thrashed his opponent 6-2 6-0 6-3 in just one hour and 35 minutes.

Other winners included Germany’s 23rd-seed Tommy Haas and Cyprus’ Marcos Baghdatis, seeded 19, who reached the final of the Australian Open in January.

Home talent Gael Monfils ousted Scottish prodigy Andy Murray after a five-set battle on centre court — 6-4 6-7 (2/7) 1-6 6-2 6-1.

Defending ladies’ champion Justine Henin-Hardenne admitted she felt at home at Roland Garros after easing to a straight-sets victory in the first round.

The Belgian, whose success here last summer came two years after she claimed her first title in Paris, needed just one hour to brush aside Estonia’s Maret Ani 6-3 6-0.

“I feel at home here,” said the fifth seed. “I experience great emotions and I enjoy having the crowd behind me.

“This is a place I like coming back to. It’s the tournament I look forward to the most so I have a lot of motivation.”

Henin-Hardenne reached the final of the Australian Open in January but she controversially pulled out during her match with France’s Amelie Mauresmo citing stomach pains.

She claimed that would not weigh on her mind as she set about attempting to secure a hat-trick of titles in the French capital.

“I think I have said enough about that,” Henin-Hardenne added.

Meanwhile, third seed Nadia Petrova of Russia slipped to a first-round exit at the hands of Japan’s Akiko Morigami.

The 23-year-old Petrova, who has won four tournaments this season — in Doha, Amelia Island, Charleston and Berlin — was defeated 6-2 6-2 but claimed a leg injury was partly to blame for the defeat.

“The doctors thought I could play with a bandage, and I was also hoping I could go through one or two matches,” Petrova said.

“But I realised at the end of the first set that winning would be impossible for me. My leg was too painful.”

Switzerland’s Martina Hingis was in stellar form as she thrashed America’s Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-2 in her first appearance in Paris since 2001.

The 25-year-old, who won five grand slams between 1997 and 1999, is seeded 12th in Paris after making her return to the WTA circuit in 2006 after three years out.

Having won in Rome in May, she admitted feeling full of confidence at Roland Garros — even though the French Open is the only grand slam she has never won.

In the other first-round tussles, Russia’s Anastasia Myskina, the 2004 French Open champion and 10th seed, beat India’s Sania Mirza. There were also wins for 16th-seed Dinara Safina, 19th-seed Ana Ivanovic and 13th-seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld.