Fedex sings in rain
Defending champion Roger Federer defied two rain breaks to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday as last year’s runner-up Robin Soderling took just 71 super-charged minutes to book his place.
Federer, chasing a 17th Grand Slam title, overcame a sloppy first set, where he was plagued by 21 unforced errors and had to save five break points, before defeating Colombian left-hander Alejandro Falla 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4.
The world number one will tackle either Belgium’s Olivier Rochus or German qualifier Julian Reister, the world 165, for a place in the last 16.
Federer went into his match buoyed by having already defeated world number 70 Falla twice without dropping a set, including in the second round of Roland Garros in 2006.
But he struggled throughout the opening set before getting the better of the Colombian, shrugging off the distractions of two rain interruptions.
“A player like Falla needed the first set to have a chance of winning,” said Federer, on a day when bursts of heavy rain brought to an end three days when temperatures had soared to a sweltering 30 degrees.
“He
Nadal breezes into Round 2
Four-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal began his campaign to win back his Roland Garros title with a convincing 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over France’s Gianni Mina, the world 655, on Tuesday.
Paes, Dlouhy third seeded
Defending champions Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have been seeded third and will open their French Open campaign against Swede Johan Brunstrom and Jean-Julien Rojer of Netherlands A here.
Hot-stuff Fedex takes spring cruise
Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer began his campaign for a 17th Grand Slam title with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win over Australia’s Peter Luczak in the French Open first round on Monday.
Somdev falls flat in marathon five-setter
Somdev Devvarman was knocked out of the French Open first round, losing a marathon five-setter 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to world number 65 Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland at the Roland Garros on Sunday.
Kuznetsova in Top gear
Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova reeled off 11 of the last 12 games to move into the French Open second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Sunday. But 10th seeded Belarusian Victoria
Somdev creates history, qualifies
Somdev Devvarman on Friday became the first Indian in 13 years to qualify for the men’s singles event of the French Open after scoring a 6-4, 6-1 win over Adrian Mannarino here.
Federer gets tough Paris mission
Rafael Nadal claimed the first victory of the French Open on Friday after defending champion Roger Federer was handed a tricky draw while Serena Williams was on collision course with long-time rival Justine Henin.
Nadal tames Federer in final
Rafael Nadal clinched a record-breaking 18th career Masters title on Sunday when he defeated old rival Roger Federer 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) in the Madrid final, landing a powerful psychological French Open blow in the process.
Venus crushes Peer to enter Madrid final
Venus Williams won the last nine games in a dominant display as she crushed Israeli Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-0 to reach the final of the WTA Madrid Masters on Saturday, her fourth final from six events in 2010.