The handshake was warm and the words were kind but Roger Federer's tennis was clinical in the extreme at the French Open yesterday as the Swiss began his 54th consecutive grand slam event with a typically brutal victory.

His 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta took just an hour and a half and for all his promise, the world No 164 never stood a chance.

Like another former world No 1, Andy Murray's coach, Ivan Lendl, Federer defends his territory like a lion, lest his opponents take any encouragement they could use against him in the future.

Since his first grand slam triumph, at Wimbledon in 2003, the Swiss has now won 36 of his 39 grand slam first-round matches in straight sets.

On a cool day in which a nearby protest against French government plans to legalise same-sex marriage was the hottest topic, Federer began each set quickly, stamped his authority and cruised through to meet Somdev Devvarman of India.

"I think I started all three sets well and was able to get in the lead," Federer said. "And then playing from the lead against a player like him it's always easier, and so I put a lot of emphasis on that.

"I was happy with the way I was able to mix up the game with a player who can play very well on clay."

This is the only one of the four grand slam events that begins on a Sunday, extending the tournament to 15 days which, as Federer pointed out, is two more than Wimbledon.

In 2006, the first year of the Sunday start, Federer was one of the most vocal opponents, annoyed that the usual rhythm of day on, day off had been interrupted.

In the intervening six years, organisers did not dare to repeat the scheduling but, perhaps on the back of the increase in prize money this time, they felt able and he obliged, not that he had much choice.

"I remember they sort of forced me to play on Sunday years back to promote their Sunday thing," he said yesterday. "It's always something that's a debate, you know, within the ATP and the French Open.

"But I'm happy this time around. I told them if they wanted me to play Sunday, whatever, I'm fine with it. They took the opportunity right away."

Earlier this year, Carreno-Busta won six out of seven tournaments on the Futures Tour, a level two rungs below the main Tour. The 21-year-old then caught the eye in Portugal last month where he qualified and beat David Goffin, Julien Benneteau and Fabio Fognini before taking a set off Stanislas Wawrinka in the semi-final.

In the absence of Murray, who is nursing a back injury, Federer was elevated to the No. 2 seeding. The luck of the draw placed him in the other half to the defending champion Rafael Nadal and world No.1 Novak Djokovic, with No.4 David Ferrer the highest seed in his section.

Having been written off when he lost early in Madrid this month and then humbled by Nadal in the final in Rome just over a week ago, Federer said he had long given up worrying about what other people expected.

"Am I a favourite or not? I don't care because it doesn't give me any more opportunities to win the tournament," he said. "So you want to remain calm, focused on what you do and then let the storm go by.

"I'm not focused on what journalists say. Of course there is more pressure when I arrive in Wimbledon and I have to defend 2000 points. I have fewer points to defend here.

"With tennis, you never know what's going to happen. You need to play every single match, and that's what makes it interesting. As for the rest, okay, it sells copies."

On a quiet day in terms of upsets, Ferrer, Milos Raonic and Sam Querrey were among the other seeded players to advance. Gilles Simon, the 15th seed, was another to reach round two, at the expense of Leyton Hewitt.

The Australian played his best tennis in years as he won the first two sets but Simon hit back brilliantly and with Hewitt struggling with a blister on his left foot, Simon lead the deciding set 5-0 before Hewitt levelled 5-5 and Simon rallied to take the final two games and record his first win from two sets down.