The sixth-seeded Stosur, who won last year's U.S. Open title and reached the final at Roland Garros in 2010, beat Elena Baltacha of Britain 6-4, 6-0 in the first match on the tournament's main court.
"It's a bit of an early start, but always nice to get through it now," the Australian said. "You have the whole day and whatever else to recover and, yeah, enjoy."
Kuznetsova won the French Open title in 2009 and the U.S. Open in 2004 but is seeded No. 26 this year. Against Mirjana Lucic of Croatia, the Russian faced little trouble despite being broken twice in the second set.
Ivanovic blitzed Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino of Spain 6-1, 6-1.
Ivanovic won her only major title at Roland Garros in 2008, but lost in the fourth round a year later. She fell in the second round in 2010, and then lost in the first round last year.
Against Arruabarrena-Vecino, the former top-ranked Serb had five aces and 27 winners. Arruabarrena-Vecino finished the match with only four winners.
No. 10 Angelique Kerber of Germany and No. 20 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic also advanced to the second round, along with American players Melanie Oudin and Irina Falconi.
Later, seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams and 2008 French Open winner Ana Ivanovic were to play their first round matches.
None of the top three men was in action in Paris on opening day, but 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro moved into the second round.
Del Potro advanced despite some discomfort in his left knee, beating Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-1.
Del Potro played with tape on his knee early in the match. The ninth seed then added some more strapping after getting a massage from a trainer following the second set.
Del Potro reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2009, but lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in five sets. A few months later, the Argentine defeated Federer in the U.S. Open final.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer will be on court Monday, while Rafael Nadal is slated to begin his attempt for a record-breaking seventh French Open title on Tuesday.
Fabio Fognini of Italy became the first man to advance, beating Adrian Mannarino of France 6-0, 7-5, 6-1. No. 21 Marin Cilic of Croatia was next, defeating Daniel Munoz-De la Nava of Spain 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, also moved into the second round. The Spaniard beat Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that starts on Sunday. The other three all start on Monday.
"I don't think it's too big a deal now that it's more of a proper schedule," Stosur said. "I think the first year there was only a handful of matches, and, yeah, if you were on the schedule then, it really didn't feel like the tournament started. Nobody else was thinking that the tournament had started."
Stosur converted five of her eight break points, and only briefly allowed Baltacha back into the match by being broken while serving for the first set at 5-3. The Australian broke right back to take the set.
In the second set, Baltacha won only four points on her serve, allowing Stosur to advance easily.
Kuznetsova raced through the first set of her match, and then held on to win the second to reach the next round. After leading 3-0 in the second set, Lucic broke twice to get back to 3-3, but Kuznetsova then won the next three games to take the match.
The 30-year-old Lucic reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999, but she is now 11-44 against players ranked in the top 30 in her career.
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/rBcn9Eixr10/1
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