PARIS -- Defending champion and top-seeded Jennifer Capriati wrapped up a first-round victory Wednesday, beating fellow American Marissa Irvin 6-3, 6-4 as the sun finally appeared at the French Open.

No. 2 Venus Williams was among the first players to reach the third round, routing Wynne Prakusya 6-0, 6-1.

Capriati had taken a 4-2 first-set lead when the match was halted Tuesday by rain and darkness.

Despite struggling with her serve, Capriati finished off Irvin, the No. 56-ranked player in just her second French Open.

Capriati committed three double faults in the fourth game of the second set to lose her serve. But in the 10th game when she served for the match, she came through with her only two aces of the day.

In another first-round match, third-seeded Serena Williams made quick work of Martina Sucha, rolling to a 6-3, 6-0 victory.

Dressed in a bright green tennis dress with soccer-style, ankle-high yellow socks, Williams overpowered Sucha with her serve and controlled the match with aggressive ground strokes and speed.

Williams, coming to Roland Garros after winning the Italian Open, needed just 61 minutes to subdue Sucha.

Anna Kournikova, meanwhile, made another first-round exit, losing to Christiana Wheeler of Australia, 6-4, 6-3. Kournikova took a tumble in the second set and cut the middle finger on her right hand, requiring a bandage from the trainer. She dropped that game and the final two to lose the match.

Three-time champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who was seeded 15th, also had a rough day. She was beaten 6-0, 6-1 by Marta Marrero while committing 35 unforced errors.

The 2000 champion, Mary Pierce, who skipped the tournament a year ago with back problems, advanced by beating Irina Selyutina 7-5, 7-5.

Sixth-seeded Monica Seles downed Barbara Rittner, 6-4, 6-1, while fourth-seeded Kim Clisjters defeated Eleni Danilidou 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) in second-round matches; No. 7 seed Jelena Dokic beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi, 6-4, 6-2; Ninth-seed Silvia Farina Elia topped Elena Bovina 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; but No. 12 Meghann Shaughnessy lost 7-6 (8), 6-3 to Angelique Widjaja.

After her win, Williams said her approach to tennis changed last year when she became more serious.

"I take every match as a final of a Grand Slam,'' she said. "No matter who you play, they want to beat you. Who wouldn't want to beat a Williams?'' she said.

An ailing Justine Henin, seeded fifth, was ousted Tuesday. Henin, a semifinalist at the French Open last year, was truly under the weather.

A sore throat, fever and congestion made for a miserable day and an early exit for one of the favorites coming into Roland Garros. She lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 to Hungarian qualifier Aniko Kapros.

"I just feel physically awful,'' said Henin, who admitted she probably should not have ventured out on a raw and cold day. "I was not ready to play this match.''