Federer, Djokovic made to toil hard

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic gave themselves more work than anticipated in moving into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday.

Former champion Federer set a record with his 234th Grand-Slam match win but only after wasting two matchpoints in a third-set tiebreak and having to play a fourth set to beat Romanian Adrian Ungur.

The third-seeded Federer eventually won 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 on a sunny Philippe Chatrier court to pass Jimmy Connors’ professional-era record, having equalled it in the first round here.

“Instead of being aggressive I let him show me what he could do,” Federer said of the lost matchpoints. “He played two beautiful shots and he played very well.”
World number one Djokovic, aiming to become the first man in 43 years to hold all four Grand-Slam titles at the same time, rattled off the first seven games before faltering against Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.

“I stopped,” the Serbian told a news conference, after the match turned into a fierce battle which he finally won 6-0, 6-4, 6-4. “I gave him the opportunity to come back into the match after a perfect first seven games.”

Women’s world number one Victoria Azarenka redeemed herself after narrowly avoiding first-round defeat when she easily beat German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1, 6-1 in her second match.

A subdued Venus Williams left the French Open in the second round when she was soundly beaten by third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3.

Former world number one Williams, who has won seven Grand Slam events but is rebuilding her game and her life after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, got into her stride only at the end of a one-sided match.

Radwanska dominated the court and went 5-1 up in the second set before Williams began to fight back. The American, watched by sister Serena who made a shock first-round exit on Tuesday, won the next game to love then broke for 5-3.

With light rain beginning to fall on the Philippe Chatrier court, Williams was one point from winning the next game but Radwanska got to matchpoint when she scooped the ball over the American’s head, leaving her standing. A forehand mistake by Williams finished off the match in exactly an hour.

Eighth seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, a semifinalist last year, hit 14 double faults on the way to a defeat by Croatian world number 50 Petra Martic. The 21-year-old Martic reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time with her fighting 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory and will now play Spanish 29th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.

The French fans were delighted to see Gilles Simon win through 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, 1-6, 6-0 after a tough match with American wildcard Brian Baker.

French Open results

Second round (prefix denotes seeding): Men’s singles: 11-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Brian Baker (US) 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 1-6, 6-0; 31-Kevin Anderson (SA) bt Horacio Zeballos (Arg) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0; 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; 22-Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz) 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2; Nicolas Devilder (Fra) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2; 3-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Adrian Ungur (Rom) 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3; 9-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4; 21-Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (Esp) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-3; 1-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt Blaz Kavcic (Slv) 6-0, 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s singles: 3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt Venus Williams (US) 6-2, 6-3; 18-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Alexa Glatch (US) 6-3, 6-1; Petra Martic (Cro) bt 8-Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Sloane Stephens (US) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-1, 6-1; 26-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Chan Yung-Jan (Twn) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4); 13-Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt Shahar Peer (Isr) 6-2, 6-2; Mathilde Johansson (Fra) bt 24-Petra Cetkovska (Cze) 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Esp) bt 20-Lucie Safarova (Cze) 6-4, 7-5; 27-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Chanelle Scheepers (SA) 6-3, 6-3; 29-Anabel Medina Garrigues (Esp) bt Irena Pavlovic (Fra) 6-3, 6-2; Aleksandra Wozniak (Can) bt 31-Zheng Jie (Chn) 6-2, 6-4; 21-Sara Errani (Ita) bt Melanie Oudin (US) 6-2, 6-3; 6-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Irina Falconi (US) 6-1, 6-4; 15-Dominika Cibulkova (Slv) bt Vania King (US) 6-0, 6-2; 1-Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Dinah Pfizenmaier (Ger) 6-1, 6-1.