PARIS — When the ball was in play, Maria Sharapova at least was able to make something happen.

The top-seeded Russian struggled with her serve in the wind at the French Open and barely managed to defeat 103rd-ranked Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 today in the first round.

Sharapova had 17 double-faults and landed only 64 percent of her first serves in the match on center court, where she is trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the clay-court major.

"I was very close to losing this match," Sharapova said. "Not many things were working for me today after the first set."

The 19-year-old Rodina came within two points of winning at 5-4 in the third set, but Sharapova won the next two with strong serves to hold. At 6-6, Sharapova regained control by breaking serve for the first time in the final set, returning a second serve with a big forehand that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Then, serving for the match, Sharapova double-faulted one final time, but took the next three points to end it.

In the fifth game of the second set, Sharapova double-faulted three times in a row. After the third, she put her hands on her hips and stared blankly.

"I had problems in every department of my game today, so I'll have to improve on every aspect of those things," Sharapova said.

Seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia also advanced, beating Vera Dushevina 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-2, but No. 9 Marion Bartoli was upset by Casey Dellacqua 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

No. 18 Francesca Schiavone also advanced, defeating Jill Craybas of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

In the men's draw, No. 25 Lleyton Hewitt defeated Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and No. 21 Radek Stepanek stopped Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, retired with leg pains while leading Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-6 (5), 2-2.

"I've suffered this pain for quite a while," the 23rd-seeded Ferrero said. "I thought I had recovered for this tournament. ... It didn't hurt, but then the pain, I started feeling the pain again."

Although the three-time Grand Slam champion was having trouble landing her serves, Sharapova was more consistent with her groundstrokes, often playing long rallies before hitting a winner or waiting for Rodina to make a mistake.

"I just hung in there. It was far from my best tennis today," Sharapova said. "But at the end of the day you try to learn from your mistakes."

Sharapova didn't directly blame the windy conditions for her poor play.

"Apart from eating and breathing the sand, it was great," she said.

Sharapova dominated the first set, losing only her first service game. In one stretch, she won 10 of 11 points to take a 4-1 lead.

But the Russian then double-faulted three times in the following game before she held.

Rodina broke Sharapova in the first game of the second set, and then held for the first time to take a 2-0 lead. She held the rest of the way and broke Sharapova again in the final game of the set.

Rodina was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament. She lost in the first qualifying round at the Australian Open this year.

On Tuesday, Amelie Mauresmo took what amounted to a three-hour lunch break during her match. That was fine with her: She's used to long rain delays at major tournaments by now.

"Maybe at the beginning, when you're very young, you kind of don't know really what to do and maybe get a little bit too excited," said Mauresmo, who overcame a some shaky periods and a weather interruption to beat Olga Savchuk 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round. "But now I guess I'm doing OK."

The 22nd-seeded Mauresmo was one of only 13 people to complete a match Tuesday at Roland Garros, where rain affected play for the third straight day.