Federer begins search for Slam

He’s won all the major tennis events except the French Open.

PARIS (AP) — Roger Federer made a winning return to the French Open, the only Grand Slam title he has never won.

The top-ranked Federer beat Sam Querrey of the United States 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 Monday in the first round at Roland Garros, where the 12-time major champion is trying to become only the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.

Federer was broken once early in the first set, but he managed to win five times on Querrey’s serve.

“Once I got settled I played a little bit more better,” Federer said. “I was able to create myself a few opportunities against his serve, which was sort of good. ... Give me a few days now again to practice, and hopefully I can play a bit better the next match.”

On the women’s side, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic and No. 10 Patty Schnyder advanced.

Federer has played well on clay this season, despite having already lost seven times this year — more than he lost in the entire season in 2004, ’05 and ’06.

He won his only title of the year on clay in Estoril, Portugal, when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final with a leg injury. Federer then reached the final at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Hamburg Masters, losing both times to Rafael Nadal.

“I’ve played well all clay-court season long,” Federer said. “Didn’t have many hiccups really, and I have plenty of matches. That was my goal as well. By playing Estoril, I was hoping to get that before Paris.”

Nadal, who is undefeated at Roland Garros, has also beaten Federer in the last two French Open finals and in the 2005 semifinals. He started his quest for a fourth straight French Open title against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil.

Querrey was making his second appearance at the French Open. He also lost in the first round last year.

“He’s an up and coming player who’s got a good serve and big shots,” Federer said.

The third-seeded Jankovic got a little love from the net to help her beat Monica Niculescu 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Leading 4-2 in the first-set tiebreaker, last year’s French Open semifinalist had a drop volley hit the top of the net and roll along the tape before falling into the opposite court.

Jankovic put her hand up as if to say, “Sorry.” The Serb then bent down and kissed the white tape.

In the second set, Jankovic lost her serve after breaking her Romanian opponent in the opening game, then dominated the rest of the match.

The first set was when she had the most trouble, despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

“She hit quite good drop shots and I got a little bit confused, because, first of all, I didn’t know her game, I didn’t know how she plays, and I didn’t know what to expect from her,” Jankovic said. “And then I started making some errors and I lost my rhythm a little bit.”