Federer has it easy, Halep upset

Tennis French Open: Sharapova powers past Diatchenko; Berdych, Nishikori too make progress

Roger Federer avoided any more security scares to move safely into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday but danger lurks ahead for the Swiss, namely in the shape of Japanese firebrand Kei Nishikori.

The perils of Roland Garros were in evidence in the women's draw too where last year's runner-up Simona Halep, the third seed, bowed out 7-5, 6-1 to Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to become the biggest casualty so far.

The 33-year-old Lucic-Baroni, who made her French Open debut in 1999 as a 17-year-old but took a break from tennis before returning, also beat Halep in last year's US Open.
 Fourth seed Tomas Berdych fought off some stiff resistance from fellow Czech Radek Stepanek to advance to the third round with a 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3 win.

Berdych, who has yet to win a Grand Slam title despite being in the top-10 for five years, kept his composure despite Stepanek's wily tactics, dropping serve only once.

Maria Sharapova, who beat Halep in last year's final, made short work of fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, winning 6-3, 6-1 to set up a juicy third-round clash with Samantha Stosur.

Stosur, the 2010 runner-up and twice a semifinalist, came within a game of serving up a "double bagel" over French wildcard Amandine Hesse but had to be content with 6-0, 6-1.

While second seed Federer was beating Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-2, 7-6(1), 6-3, Nishikori took centre stage on Court Phillipe Chatrier and a straight-set win over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci offered further proof of his growing threat.

Left-hander Bellucci is one of the form players on clay this year, but 25-year-old Nishikori passed the test with flying colours, winning 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round for only the second time.

Bellucci, ranked 40, arrived in Paris full of confidence after winning the Geneva title last week, but the relentless Nishikori wore him down in a high-quality contest.

There was no repeat of Sunday's scenes when a fan ran on to court for a selfie with 17-times grand slam champion Federer, the only trouble the Swiss encountering on Wednesday was a 4-2 second-set deficit which he quickly fixed.

Federer, on collision course with Nishikori in the semifinal, will play Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur in round three after he beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Twelfth seed Simon led the home charge, beating Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 while Cornet beat Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) 6-2, 7-5.


Results: Second round (prefix denotes seeding): Men’s singles: 4-Tomas Berdych (Czech) bt Radek Stepanek (Czech) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-3; 13-Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Diego Schwartzman (Arg) 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3; 14-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-4, 6-1, 6-1; Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt 24-Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Benoit Paire (Fra) bt 28-Fabio Fognini (Ita) 6-1, 6-3, 7-5; Lukas Rosol (Czech) bt 19-Roberto Bautista (Esp) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; 21-Pablo Cuevas (Uru) bt Dominic Thiem (Aus) 7-6(7), 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5; 5-Kei Nishikori (Jap) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Bral) 7-5, 6-4, 6-4; Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Benjamin Becker (Ger) bt 32-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) 6-4, 0-6, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8; Teymuraz Gabashvili (Rus) bt Juan Monaco (Arg) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; 2-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Marcel Granollers (Esp) 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-3; 8-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Dusan Lajovic (Srb) 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Steve Johnson (US) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-6(6); 12-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Martin Klizan (Svk) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.

Women’s singles: 21-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Esp) bt Camila Giorgi (Ita) 6-1, 6-4; 19-Elina Svitolina (Ukr) bt Yulia Putintseva (Kaz) 1-6, 7-5, 9-7; Elena Vesnina (Rus) bt Polona Hercog (Slo) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; 11-Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt Ajla Tomljanovic (Aus) 6-3, 6-2; Donna Vekic (Cro) bt Bojana Jovanovski (Serb) 6-4, 6-3; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Cro) bt 3-Simona Halep (Rom) 7-5, 6-1; 29-Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) 6-2, 7-5; 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus) 6-3, 6-1; Annika Beck (Ger) bt Paula Kania (Pol) 6-2, 6-2; 13-Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Kurumi Nara (Jpn) 6-2, 6-0; 26-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Amandine Hesse (Fra) 6-0, 6-1; 20-Sabine Lisicki (Ger) bt Daria Gavrilova (Aus) 6-1 (retired).