AP
 
Paris, May 30: The last point has long been problematic for Mashona Washington, and it again proved elusive when she faced Maria Sharapova at the French Open. On the verge of the biggest victory in her career, Washington failed to convert three match points, lost the final five games and was overtaken by a gimpy Sharapova, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in the opening round Sunday.

Washington, a 29-year-old Michigan native, has yet to win a tour title and only briefly cracked the top 50 before slipping to her current ranking of 97th. But she nearly notched the first upset of the tournament.

''I played well,'' Washington said. ''I just wasn't able to get the last point that I needed to close out the match.''

To Washington's consternation, she's accustomed to losing the last point. The younger sister of 1996 Wimbledon runner-up MaliVai Washington arrived at Roland Garros with records of 5-12 this year and 5-13 in Grand Slam events. She owns only one win over a top 10 player _ Sharapova, at New Haven in 2004.

Washington tried to shrug off her latest near-miss.

''It was pretty disheartening, but five minutes after the match, when I was in the locker room,'' she said. ''It's in the past now. I can't do anything about it.''

The tournament opened on a Sunday for the first time, and both Sharapova and top-ranked Roger Federer struggled with the early start. Federer lost his first two service games to fall behind 3-0, then gradually found his form and beat qualifier Diego Hartfield 7-5, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

''I prefer easy matches,'' Federer said.

He and Sharapova both asked not to play Sunday, but their requests were rejected. The No. 4-seeded Sharapova wanted another day to rest an ankle injury she aggravated last week.

''It doesn't make you feel great when you know that the French federation, all they're thinking about is selling tickets, making money and about their players,'' she said. ''Can't be too happy about that.''

Federer, starting his bid for the only major title he has yet to win, needed more than 2½ hours to eliminate a player making his tour-level debut.

''I didn't want to be the guy who starts the tournament,'' Federer said. ''You play Sunday, first up, you feel like the tournament hasn't even started yet, and right away you're challenged. It's not easy.''

The president of the French Tennis Federation noted that those who won on the first day would have an extra day to rest before the second round. He said the Sunday start was generally popular with top players _ and fans.

''The stadiums are full, so we can see the public has responded very positively,'' Christian Bimes said.

Eleven matches were completed, and seeded players went 9-for-9. Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo of France, who has yet to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros, opened by beating Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-4.

''We were not really in favor of having a tournament begin on Sunday,'' said Mauresmo, adding that players ''don't have a choice anyway.''

No. 14-seeded Dinara Safina, No. 22 Ai Sugiyama and No. 25 Marion Bartoli also advanced.

In men's play, No. 3 David Nalbandian and No. 7 Tommy Robredo won, but Juan Antonio Marin and Kenneth Carlsen failed to snap long losing streaks.

Carlsen's skid at Roland Garros reached nine consecutive matches, dating to 1995, as he lost to Tim Henman 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Marin fell to 0-17 in Grand Slam events _ the worst record in the Open era _ when he lost to Carlos Moya 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

''Given my stats, I don't know if I am going to win. ... I'll keep on trying,'' said Marin, who was playing his first match at a major since 2002, in part because of knee and ankle injuries.

''Truthfully,'' he added, ''I don't feel down.''