Swiss Roger Federer serves to Colombia's Alejandro Falla during the French Open yesterday. Federer won in straight sets. - REUTERS
PARIS (AP):
ROGER FEDERER was better than the weather.
On a third consecutive damp, chilly day at the French Open, the top-ranked Federer endured two rain delays while beating Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round yesterday.
The two delays totalled one hour, 31 minutes, while the match lasted only 1:26.
"I'm happy to get through," Federer said. "It's not easy to come on and off. You always hope your game is still there and it hasn't left you."
Federer shanked forehands on two match points in the final game before closing out the victory to improve to 40-3 this year. He never lost his serve, won 55 of 68 service points and finished with 41 winners to 13 for Falla.
A Colombian ranked 139th, Falla lost in qualifying and made the draw only because another player pulled out. He now has the distinction of losing to Federer at two major events - their only previous meeting came in the second round at Wimbledon in 2004.
Federer is bidding for his fourth consecutive Grand Slam title at the only major event he has yet to win.
"I would like to win here," he said. "The pressure is quite big. I enjoy the challenge."
Temperatures were cool for a second successive day, and because of rain, one match took seven hours to complete. No. 13 Nicolas Kiefer finally beat 29-year-old wild-card Marc Gicquel of France 6-0, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9.
Another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, lost to No. 3 David Nalbandian 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo of France, who took the court after the showers passed, overcame some nervous moments in the second set to beat Vera Dushevina 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Rain delays and cool conditions failed to faze No. 4-seeded Maria Sharapova, who wore long sleeves and beat Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1.
CHANGING WEATHER
"It's sunny, and five minutes later it gets dark and windy," Sharapova said. "You just have to adjust and be patient."
Sharapova, recovering from an ankle injury she aggravated last week, moved well on the center-court clay.
"It was a lot better than my previous match," she said. "I didn't feel like I was moving great still, being cautious with the tape on, but pain-wise it felt a lot better."
No. 10 Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 champion, outlasted 19-year-old qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Korolev is the cousin of Anna Kournikova.
No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko beat the rain and became the first man to reach the third round when Flavio Saretta retired with the flu trailing 6-2, 4-1.
"I couldn't run anymore," Saretta said.
Davydenko played well from the beginning despite an 11:00 a.m. start.
"It looks like you're sleeping on the court the first few games because this was too early," Davydenko said.
Another Russian, No. 14-seeded Dinara Safina, beat Hana Sromova 6-0, 6-2. Safina hit 31 winners, including six aces.
"I can say it was an easy match today," Safina said. "I was pretty solid."
Safina's older brother, two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin, was fined US$10,000 yesterday for failing to hold a post-match news conference after losing in the opening round to Fernando Gonzalez.
