In the evening sunshine on Court Six, it was the girl born in Guernsey and now based in Florida who went through to play Kaia Kanepi, the world No 16 from Estonia.  For much of her tennis career, Watson has not had the exposure that Laura Robson has. Though both won junior grand slam titles, Robson’s came at the Wimbledon Championships when she was 14, which was bound to generate more interest than Watson winning the junior version of the US Open at 17. But no longer can it be said that Watson is toiling away in Robson’s shadow.  Watson, whose only previous appearance in the main draw of a slam was when she received a wild card into last summer’s Wimbledon Championships, has put some space between her and Robson, though the Londoner has had a number of injuries and growing pains.  The Parisians made their indifference plain during Anne Keothavong’s defeat to Vesna Dolonts, of Russia. There was an embarrassing 15-20 minutes when almost all the ‘spectators’ on one side of the outside court had their backs to the Londoner’s match as they were standing on the plastic seats to watch Roger Federer’s practice session on the other side of the fence. When Federer finished, a good number of them fled for the exits as if the fire alarm had sounded.  That was not the only distraction, though, as the players also had to contend with a car alarm just outside the grounds, the siren from a passing ambulance, and Keothavong wondered whether a group of French teenagers in the corner would “shut up” and stop mimicking her grunt.  Keothavong, who could have won the second set, was so concerned about her tightening muscles in the third set that she did not always sit down during the changeovers, instead choosing to stand and flex. She also had treatment, but there was nothing in the physiotherapist’s bag that could prevent the Briton from serving a double fault at match point down.  There was no scrimping on the agony in the corner of the grounds as Keothavong took 3½ hours to lose 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 to Dolonts.  It was the third year in succession that Keothavong had lost in the first round of the main draw at Roland Garros, following on from the occasion two seasons ago when she was obliterated 6-0, 6-0 by the then world No 1, Russia’s Dinara Safina, and when she won four games last May against Flavia Pennetta, a top-20 opponent from Italy.  Had she made the second round, she would have played Francesca Schiavone, the defending champion from Italy, who won easily against America’s Melanie Oudin.  The third of the British trio in Paris, Elena Baltacha, will play Sloane Stephens, an American qualifier, on Tuesday.
The Parisian tennis set are generally as oblivious to British female players   as they are to English wines, so many of the locals would not have   appreciated the full significance of Heather Watson&rsquo;s opening-round victory   over Stephanie Foretz Gacon, a French wild card.