Brazil's Marcos Daniel fought valiantly for almost two and a half hours before suffering the same fate as four-times champion Nadal's previous 28 opponents at the claycourt Grand Slam, going down 7-5, 6-4, 6-3.
Roland Garros also caught a brief glimpse of Safina -- although if you blinked, you might have missed her -- as the Russian white-washed Britain's Anne Keothavong 6-0, 6-0.
Roger Federer would have preferred to have got even more hot and bothered but that did not stop him from hot-footing into the last 64 with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spaniard Alberto Martin.
The crowd had barely had time to file into Centre Court and settle into their baking-hot plastic seats before Safina, who looks poised to improve on her 2008 runner-up finish, had dashed back into the cooler confines of the locker room.
So ferocious were Safina's groundstrokes that a linesman was lucky to dodge one of her missiles. Keothavong might have won 33 points but 24 of these came from Safina's unforced errors.
Venus Williams’ mind went walkabout in the second set during a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 win over fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
The third-seeded Williams owns seven singles Grand Slam trophies but has never triumphed at Roland Garros.
Nadal has ruled Roland Garros since 2005 and, as he began his pursuit of a record fifth consecutive title, there was little to suggest anyone would be able to wrest the title away from him.
Nadal trailed 3-1 in the second set and also got broken while serving for the match. But Nadal responded in the only way he knows how, unleashing the knockout blow quickly and mercilessly.
The last time Federer had stepped on Philippe Chatrier Court, he was on the receiving end of a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 mauling by his nemesis Nadal in the final 12 months ago.
On Monday, the world number two drew gasps of admiration from the capacity crowd as he stroked an exquisite drop shot to conclude a straightforward victory over Martin.
Roland Garros has never been a happy hunting ground for Maria Sharapova or Andy Roddick, but they kept alive their chances.
Twelve months after Sharapova competed in Paris as the world number one, the Russian turned up ranked 102nd as she is on a comeback trail following a nine-month injury lay-off.
Some things, however, never change as Sharapova shrieked and screeched her way to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.
Roddick reached the second round for the first time since 2005, smothering Frenchman Romain Jouan 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
Asia enjoyed a successful day at the expense of French hopes. Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie of China beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-3 and Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn cast aside Camille Pin 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.
Mauresmo shocked
Amelie Mauresmo's dreams turned to dust on Sunday when she was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld. The former Australian Open and Wimbledon champion has never felt at home in front of her own fans at Roland Garros but had hoped to enjoy her 15th tilt at the title.
It was not meant to be, however, and a sloppy forehand long on matchpoint summed up her miserable day.
Gaston Gaudio turned up hoping to recapture the summer of 2004. Instead, the former champion lost to Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round.
"I spent the best time of my life here in this tournament, so it was great to be back. It's a pity I lost, but it happens. It's been really hard for me to come back," said the 2004 winner, who needed a wildcard to play at the claycourt major as his ranking has nosedived to 359th.
French Open results on Monday
First-round results (prefix denotes seeding):
Men’s singles: 24-Juergen Melzer (Aut) bt Sergio Roitman (Arg) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0; Simone Bolelli (Ita) bt 19-Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3; 28-Feliciano Lopez (Spa) bt Franco Ferreiro (Bra) 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-2; 6-Andy Roddick (US) bt Romain Jouan (Fra) 6-2, 6-4, 6-2; Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt Albert Montanes (Spa) 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 2-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Alberto Martin (Spa) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; 32-Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt Laurent Recouderc (Fra) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; 17-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Nicolas Devilder (Fra) 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; 12-Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; 1-Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Marcos Daniel (Bra) 7-5, 6-4, 6-3; 30-Victor Hanescu (Rom) bt Steve Darcis (Bel) 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3); 23-Robin Soderling (Swe) bt Kevin Kim (US) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Gilles Muller (Lux) 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 6-4; 10-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Stefan Koubek (Aut) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4; Potito Starace (Ita) bt Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 1-0 (retd).
Women’s singles: 12-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Rossana De Los Rios (Par) 6-3, 6-1; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) bt 17-Patty Schnyder (Sui) 6-4, 6-3; Mariana Duque (Col) bt 26-Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; 13-Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Alexa Glatch (US) bt 14-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-1, 6-1; Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Bela) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; 20-Dominika Cibulkova (Slo) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Lucie Hradecka (Cze) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aut) 6-1, 6-2; Michelle Larcher de Brito (Por) bt Melanie South (Bri) 0-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1; 22-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) bt Edina Gallovits (Rom) 6-1, 6-4; 3-Venus Williams (US) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; 15-Zheng Jie (Chn) bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (Fra) 6-1, 6-3; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thai) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5; Polona Hercog (Slo) bt 23-Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) bt Stephanie Foretz (Fra) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; 29-Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt Corinna Dentoni (Ita) 6-3, 6-4; 1-Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Anne Keothavong (Bri) 6-0, 6-0; Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2.
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