In the build-up to the French Open, many comparisons were made between the current form of the two world No.1 players, Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber.

So when the German was sent packing in the first round yesterday, hammered 6-2, 6-2 by Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, Murray may just have had a quiet word with himself, if he needed it, to make sure he does not suffer the same fate.

As one of the few male players who watches the women’s Tour on a regular basis, Murray will doubtless have some empathy for the plight of Kerber, who looked totally out of sorts as she was well beaten by Makarova, making her the first world No.1 ever to go out in round one here.

A shy and quiet woman, dealing with pressure has always been an issue for Kerber, who won two grand slam titles in 2015 and who recently regained the No.1 ranking when Serena Williams began her maternity leave, taking her out of the French Open.

A back injury in the lead-up to Roland Garros didn’t help her fragile confidence and in truth, she has never been at her best on clay, while facing Makarova in round one was the equivalent of Murray taking on someone like Feliciano Lopez or Fernando Verdasco in the men’s event.

The left-handed Russian now has 10 victories over top-10 players, the fourth-highest among active players, and she was too good, too consistent and too confident for Kerber, who admitted the pressure had been tough to cope with.

“The last year it was a completely different year,” she said. “The pressure is always there (but) the expectations are much bigger, especially in the big tournaments and the grand slams.

“And the expectations are also from me really big, of course, because I know what I can do, what I did last year.

“But right now I think that I have to find to myself again and just trying to forget the clay court season as soon as possible and then reset and start from the grass courts again.”

If she is looking for inspiration then perhaps the Kerber should look no further than to Petra Kvitova, who made a triumphant return to action with a surprisingly impressive 6-3, 6-2 win over Julia Boserup of the United States.

It is just under six months after she fended off an attacker in her home, an incident which left her requiring three hours, 45 minutes of surgery to repair damage to each of the fingers on her left hand.

Doctors told her she may never play again but she always clung onto the hope that she might do and yesterday, she showed that she has lost none of her ability as she ripped winners at will past Boserup, who was making her first appearance in the main draw.

“As I said (on Friday, at her pre-tournament press conference), I already won,” Kvitova said, of her comeback and return to this point. “This match was special to me. I won for the second time, if I can say.”

“When we were thinking to play here, I told my coaches that I really want to come here and win my first match.

“(It was) a great dream to have. And that's happened. The motivation which I had today was amazing, and I really didn't want to lose. Of course, everybody is probably saying that but it was a little bit more special to me today than any other matches.”

Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova, two of the grand slam champions in the draw, also reached round two.

Williams came from a break down in each set to beat Qiang Wang of China 6-4, 7-6 while Kuznetsova saw off American Christina McHale 7-5, 6-4.