( CNN ) -- Reigning champions Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova successfully began the defense of their titles at the French Open on Monday , a day when local player Gael Monfils stole the show by upsetting fifth seed Tomas Berdych . Nadal was the first on court , with his seven-month injury layoff making this the Spaniard 's first grand slam match since being sensationally knocked out of Wimbledon last year by Lukas Rosol . With six titles in eight finals since his return in February , Nadal had been expected to cruise past Germany 's Daniel Brands , 25 . Instead , a man seeking a record eighth title at Roland Garros proceeded to do something he had never previously managed in the first round of a grand slam match - lose the opening set . This was unwanted history in his 34th grand slam tournament but a reminder of Nadal 's dominance in Paris was underlined by this being only the 15th set he had lost in 54 matches at Roland Garros . The big-hitting Brands , ranked 59th , unleashed a fearless barrage of attacks off both sides and even led the second set tie break 3-0 only for Nadal to claim the set en route to a 4-6 7-6 ( 7-4 ) 6-4 6-3 victory . `` He was playing unbelievable . I tried to find my game and tried to resist his fantastic shots , '' said Nadal , who will face Martin Klizan of Slovakia for a place in the last 32 . `` He played a great match and put me in a tricky situation . '' There were no such troubles for Sharapova who brushed Taiwan 's Hsieh Su-Wei aside in just 54 minutes . Surrendering only eight points on her serve , the second seed hit just four unforced errors as she set up a second round clash with Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard . The Russian was joined in the next round by three former champions : Li Na , Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone . One player not expected to be joining such heavyweights was Slovak veteran Zuzana Kucova , who finally won a grand slam match after 12 years of trying . The 30-year-old produced a massive shock , knocking out local favorite and 24th seed Julia Georges in a 7-6 ( 10-8 ) 6-0 victory . After being off the tour for the last 18 months , Kucova is ranked 1,152 in the world but made the first round after coming through qualifying . She will take on Virginie Razzano in the second round , with the French player having enjoyed her greatest success when upsetting Serena Williams in the first round of last year 's French Open . Kucova will struggle to beat Monfils for local press coverage though after the wild card knocked out fifth seed Tomas Berdych in a five-set thriller , winning 7-6 ( 10-8 ) 6-4 6-7 ( 3-7 ) 6-7 ( 4-7 ) 7-5 to delight a partisan crowd . The match took just over four hours and saw Monfils , currently ranked No . 81 after a knee injury forced him out of the world 's top 100 , dig deep to win the fifth after losing two tie breaks that could have finished the match early . World No . 2 Andy Murray , who withdrew ahead of the tournament because of injury , was among those impressed by the Frenchman 's display against the 2010 semifinalist . `` You got to love Monfils , '' the Scot tweeted . `` Great entertainer , one of the most fun guys to watch and he 's also a really good person . '' Berdych 's defeat means that three of the world 's top 10 are no longer in contention , as the world No . 6 joined the injured Murray and Juan Martin del Potro in being forced to watch on from the sidelines . A semifinalist himself in 2008 , Monfils , 26 , faces Ernests Gulbis in the second round while fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga eased through with victory over Aljaz Bedene . No Frenchman has won at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983 . In other notable results on Monday , grand slam debutant Nick Krygios of Australia beat Czech veteran Radek Stepanek thanks to a 100 % record in the tie breaks - the 18-year-old winning 7-6 ( 7-4 ) 7-6 ( 10-8 ) 7-6 ( 13-11 ) . At one point in the second set tie break , the winner of this year 's Australian Open junior event trailed 6-0 . And after sporting a new blonde hairdo during her routine defeat of Israel 's Shahar Peer , Agnieszka Radwanska was refreshingly frank when asked what she knew about her next opponent , American Mallory Burdette . `` To be honest , not much . Nothing at all , actually , '' the fourth seed from Poland said with a smile . `` I might Google her . '' Should she beat the 22-year-old , Agnieszka may not have to do much work about her potential opponent in the third round - younger sister Urszula , who must beat Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany first .
Reigning champions Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova begin title defense with ease . Serena suffers scare after losing first set in opening grand slam match for first time . French wild card Gael Monfils steals the title with thrilling defeat of Tomas Berdych .