PARIS, May 24 (AFP) - British duo Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski both overcame their opening hurdles at the French Open on Monday - with seventh seed Henman ousting Karim Alami of Morocco for his first win here in four attempts. Rusedski, seeded 12th, beat German left-hander David Prinosil 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 and now plays Australia's Richard Fromberg for a place in the third round. Another win would see him equal his best-ever showing to date in five visits to Roland Garros. Henman booked a date with Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, who ousted Canada's Daniel Nestor in straight sets, after coming from behind and showing great resilience to beat gifted baseliner Alami 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Despite being seeded, both the Britons are rank outsiders on the slow red clay courts here. But they have recently been coming to terms with their least favourite surface and turned in promising - albeit largely losing - performances at last week's World Team Cup in Dusseldorf. And both men said they felt almost as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders after Monday's fine victories - particularly Henman, as he savoured his first win at the event. "At 6-4 and 3-3 in the second I felt I was totally in control and beginning to dominate but then I got defensive and erratic and started to let him dictate the play," he said. "At two sets to one down I had to start all over again. In the fourth and fifth I definitely picked up my serving. That was a big factor. "I'm really satisfied with the way I finished things off." Henman said his decision to play Barcelona and start the clay court season early had helped him get to grips with the surface. "Having the extra 10 days on clay really helped me," said the 24-year-old British number one. "I'm not going to get carried away - but I've got a lot more confidence and self-belief. I must try to build on this win." Canadian-born Rusedski's showing against Prinosil was a huge improvement on last year's first-round loss to unknown Belgian Johan Van Herck. Rusedski gave much of the credit to new trainer Ken Matsuda, who he says has improved his overall stamina and fitness. "We've been working on my movement, my return of serve, my serve and volley and my balance," said Rusedski. "It's working and I think I can start enjoying the clay more. "I'm starting to feel comfortable, learning how to mix it up with serve and volley, sometimes hit the drop-shot, sometimes slice and mix it up. I want to pride myself on being a good player on all surfaces."  