On the rainy first day of the French Open, four players advanced to the second round: the defending champion and three-time Roland Garros winner Justine Henin, the 2002 French Open winner Serena Williams, Dinara Safina of Russia, and Tamira Paszek of Austria.

Serena Williams, who has never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam, struggled through the opening set, but eventually dominated Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Serena was broken four times in the first set, and again in the opening game of the second. But then, she found her rhythm and everything went smoothly towards the end. The eight-time Grand Slam winner could thank the rainy weather which disrupted the match at the moment Pironkova lead 6-5. The break seemed to have helped the eighth seed to collect herself and win the match.

Top-seeded Justine Henin also advanced to the second round by beating Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 6-3. Her opponent in the second round will be Austria's Tamira Paszek who beat Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-4, 6-0.

Dinara Safina, No. 10 seed, defeated Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4. (source: ESPN)

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Saturday was the final day of the Istanbul Cup and the Strasbourg Open. Elena Dementieva (left) won the title in Turkey, while Anabel Medina Garrigues (right) cruised to victory in France.

Elena, the 13th-ranked player in the world, won the event when France's Aravane Rezai withdrew because of the knee injury she sustained in her semifinal match against Maria Sharapova. Dementieva lead 7-6 (7-5) 3-0 when Rezai retired. This is the Russian's first singles title in 2007, and she hopes that she will continue to play well next week at Roland Garros where she's seeded 13th.

At the Strasbourg International, the top seed Amelie Mauresmo was upset by the sixth seed Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 4-6 6-4. This is Garrigues' seveth career title, and the first tournament win of the year. World No. 5 Mauresmo had been looking for a confidence boost ahead of Roland Garros, her home Grand Slam at which she has been unsuccessful so far — she has never made it past the last eight.

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Porsche, a famous automotive company and supporter of women's professional tennis, donated €50,000 to benefit the partnership between UNESCO and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. This partnership was formed in November 2006, in order to promote gender equality and women's leadership in all spheres of society with the involvement of leading female professional tennis players.

France’s Tatiana Golovin was named a "Promoter of Gender Equality" for the partnership, at the ceremony held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. World No.17 joins Venus Williams who has been the global Promoter of Gender Equality since November 2006.

"I am really excited to play an increased role in advancing women's equality through this partnership. I have had unbelievable opportunities as a professional athlete and feel strongly that girls and women across the world should have similar opportunities to succeed in the goals they set for themselves,” Tatiana said.

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stated: "The efforts of Tatiana Golovin and Venus Williams will be key factors in the successful implementation of the partnership as they will provide role models for millions of girls and young women around the world."

Stacey Allaster, President of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, pointed out that "2007 will be remembered as the year of equality in women's tennis, with both Roland Garros and Wimbledon having made historic decisions to move to equal prize money for all women's and men's competitors for the first time in their respective storied histories." (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

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World No. 5 has a lot of achievements to be proud of - two Grand Slam titles, 25 WTA Tour events, a Fed Cup, and four years in the top five. Still, at her home Grand Slam, she has reached only two quarter-finals — in 2003 and 2004. For many players, that would be a great success, but Mauresmo can't really be satisfied.

It seems that she has some kind of mental block at her home tournament. Amelie admitted that stress played a role in her pour results, especially when she lost to world No. 54 Jana Kandarr of Germany in the first round of the 2001 French Open. After this defeat, Amelie won as much as four consecutive tournaments!

Last year, after losing to Vaidisova, the French No. 1 said: "I think people should start looking for me at other tournaments."

We should never write Amelie off, but even her biggest fans are not so sure she can win. However, this year she has much less pressure on her shoulders, since the French fans have gradually stopped believing she can win the clay-court Grand Slam. "Maybe she can relax a little bit and play her best tennis," analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said. (via: Roland Garros, ESPN)

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Tatiana Golovin, ranked 17th in the world, had to withdraw from her home Grand Slam tournament which starts on Sunday. The French No. 2 hasn't recovered from a right-foot injury she received during Fed Cup played last month. She will be replaced in the main draw by a lucky loser. (via: Tennis Magazine)

World No. 6 Martina Hingis has also withdrawn earlier this month due to back and hip injuries.

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