PARIS — Rain delayed the start of play Tuesday at the French Open for more than two hours, creating a backlog of matches with the tournament still in the first round.

Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli was to face Olga Govortsova in the opening match on center court, but rain began falling shortly before the players were scheduled to take the court.

The start of action on 14 other courts was also delayed. The schedule included the two champions from the Australian Open in January, No. 1-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, along with past major titlists Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur.

The weather was sunny Monday, when Maria Sharapova began a bid for her fifth Grand Slam title with a rather quick and simple 6-2, 6-1 victory over 42nd-ranked Hsieh Su-wei.