Henin eases through Dutch opener

Justine Henin shrugged off her disappointment at failing to land a fifth French Open at Roland Garros by making a smooth transition to grass at the Unicef Open in s'Hertogenbosch on Monday.

The Belgian top seed, who was beaten by eventual finalist Sam Stosur in Paris at the end of last month, brushed aside Germany's world number 55 Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-2 to set up a second-round clash with Italian Roberta Vinci.

Meanwhile, Dutch world number 124 Arantxa Rus delighted the home fans by making the most of her wild card with a fine 4-6 6-2 6-3 win over eighth-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Another early casualty was eighth seed Sara Errani, the Italian beaten 6-1 6-3 by Austria's Sybille Bammer. But Russian third seed Maria Kirilenko - a 6-4 6-1 winner over Romania's Ioana Olaru - and Romanian fifth seed Alexandra Dulgheru made it safely through.

American Vania King was on the receiving end of an emphatic turnaround, losing 6-1 6-2 to Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens, just one week after King had trounced the same opponent 6-4 6-0 in Birmingham.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic was the day's other notable winner, but the Serbian had to do it the hard way as she came from a set down to beat Sweden's world number 65 Sofia Arvidsson 4-6 6-0 6-1.

Sixth seed Thiemo de Bakker was the biggest casualty in the first round of the men's event as he was beaten 4-6 6-2 7-6 (4) by fellow Dutchman and wild card Igor Sijsling.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse continued his promising recent form on grass, with the Belgian posting a 6-3 6-2 win over American Rajeev Ram, while there were also wins for Arnaud Clement, Daniel Brands and Henri Kontinen.