PARIS: Lleyton Hewitt kept up his proud record of never having lost a French Open first round match in eight visits when he beat former doubles partner Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 on Tuesday.   

Former world number one Hewitt will face either 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina or France's Marc Gicquel for a place in the third round.   

The Australian, a quarter-finalist here in 2004 when he was beaten by Gaudio, came into Roland Garros on the back of some impressive recent displays on clay having reached the semi-finals in Rome and Portschach.   

It was all too much for big-serving Mirnyi who has a miserable French Open record with Tuesday's defeat marking the seventh time he has been beaten in the first round in nine Roland Garros visits.   

Hewitt, seeded 14, enjoyed breaks in the fifth and ninth games of the first set and raced through the second allowing Mirnyi, with whom he won the US Open doubles title in 2000, just 11 points.   

He broke to lead 3-2 in the third set before wrapping up victory on his fourth match point with a forehand pass in the ninth game of a one-sided 104-minute contest.