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Djokovic is in the same half of the draw as Rafael Nadal

World number three Novak Djokovic held off a bold challenge from Germany's Denis Gremelmayr to advance to the second round of the French Open.

The Serb lost the first set and let a 5-1 lead slip in the third before triumphing 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-2.

Australian Open champion Djokovic will face Spanish qualifier Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen in the next round.

Three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten's career ended with a straight-sets loss to Paul-Henri Mathieu in Paris.

The Brazilian former world number one lost 6-3 6-4 6-2 to bring to an end a glittering career.

The 31-year-old has played only sparingly since undergoing hip surgery in 2004.

However, he was handed a wildcard for the French Open, where he won the title in 1997, 2000 and 2001.

"It's incredible how fast it all went," said Kuerten, who won 20 titles in his 14-year career.

"It was always going to be sooner or later it's going to finish for me. Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, everybody, one day it's going to stop.

"It has been my life, my passion, my love at Roland Garros."

Djokovic, who was the warm-up act to Kuerten's farewell, said: "I don't know even one guy who says something bad about him."

As Kuerten bowed out, Djokovic was simply relieved to get through his first-round encounter after a rash of uncharacteristic errors almost saw him fall at the first hurdle.

"I'm not really happy with my performance," said the Serbian third seed. "I played pretty passively.

"And these first rounds in the bigger events are always the tricky ones - there is a lot of expectation and pressure."

David Nalbandian and James Blake enjoyed much easier progress to the second round.

Nalbandian, who is a two-time semi-finalist at Roland Garros, advanced with a 6-2 6-4 6-1 win over fellow Argentine Carlos Belocq.

Blake finds himself as the highest-ranked American in the draw after Andy Roddick's pre-tournament withdrawal.

606: DEBATE Kuerten is perhaps my favourite player ever, he was one of the nicest players around IM

The seventh seed kept the flag flying for now as he saw off Germany's Rainer Schuttler 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-3).

Former champion Carlos Moya, who won the title in 1998, saw his campaign cut short by Argentina's Eduardo Schwank.

The 31-year-old Spaniard was defeated in an epic match that lasted almost four hours 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 4-6 6-3.