Four-time French Open tennis champion Justine Henin's preparation for the Roland Garros grand slam event suffered a shuddering jolt with a first round defeat by France's Aravane Rezai in the Madrid Open.
Henin won the Stuttgart title on clay last week and is considered a dangerous outsider in Paris later this month but her first serve was inconsistent and Rezai, the world number 22, took full advantage with a 3 set win as the Belgian's game collapsed.
Henin beat Australia's Samantha Stosur in the final in Stuttgart last Sunday for her first title since she ended her 19-month self-imposed exile at the start of the year.
Maria Sharapova was another former world number one to fall at the first hurdle, the Russian 11th seed going down 6-4 6-3 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.
