Tim Henman made a great start to his French Open tennis campaign when he cruised to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 first-round victory over Vladimir Voltchkov at Stade Roland Garros today (Tuesday).

Breaking the Belorussian's serve twice in succession, Henman took four games in a row to win the first set 6-2.

Then from 3-3 in the second set, the Oxfordshire-based British No 1 again benefited from a spate of Votchkov errors to secure two more breaks and win the set 6-3.

Henman's good run continued in the third set as he raced into a 3-0 lead and went on to clinch the match 6-1.

Meanwhile, fellow Briton Greg Rusedski was preparing to play his first match since last September's US Open, against in-form Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Rusedski has undergone two operations - one on a foot and the other on a knee - in recent months and has put in hundreds of hours in the gym.

Fifth seed Roger Federer became the first big name to crash at this year's tournament, losing 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 to Luis Horna, of Peru.