PARIS - TORRENTIAL rain swamped Roland Garros yesterday.

That left the French Open with a backlog of first-round matches and Maria Sharapova was forced to wait another day to make her bow.

Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and 13th-seeded compatriot Dinara Safina were able to complete their matches after rain delayed the start of play by three hours.

Organisers were forced to postpone 30 of the 72 ties that had been scheduled yesterday.

Sadly for the wet and cold crowd, one of those was top seed Sharapova's match-up against fellow-Russian Evgeniya Rodina.

In between the rain, Kuznetsova, the 2006 runner-up to the now-retired Justine Henin, saw off Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-3.

The former US Open champion took just over an hour to see off the world No 71 as she tries to fulfil Henin's prediction that she could be the likely winner of the 2008 title.

'I spoke to her and she told me that this could be my year and that really cheered me up,' said the 22-year-old, who was happy to have finished her match.

'I think it's very important, and I'm really happy. I had to wait a little bit. I was first on, so I was lucky with that.

'I have the rest of the day to relax, to take it easy.'

Safina was also safely through after seeing off Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-1, 6-3.

'It's so good that you know your day's finished. Now, a few girls are still sitting and waiting to go on court, it's not easy. I've been in this place,' she said.

'Last year, I also had to wait six hours for my next match.'

It was her first match since lifting the German Open title earlier this month, where she saw off Henin and ended Serena Williams' 17-match unbeaten run on her way to the final.

'That showed that actually, I'm ready. I think it's just a matter of time,' said the 22-year-old.

One of her biggest hurdles however will be her health as she battles a back problem.

'This is my weakest part of my body. I'm tall, so I can't always bend my knees, so I use a lot my lower back.'

Davydenko looked sharp throughout his contest despite requiring a rub-down and strapping on his left thigh at the end of the second set.

Moments later, the players had to flee for cover as rain pelted down over the Suzanne Lenglen Court.

Upon resumption, the Russian proved to be just as relentless and immediately broke the former Australian Open champion.

That was enough to shatter Johansson's resolve and he bowed out by slapping a backhand into the net.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS