|
PARIS: Triple champion Rafael Nadal and the man whose
ambitions he has thwarted each time in winning those titles, Roger
Federer, both made smooth progress into the third round at the
French Open on Thursday.
Second seed Nadal brushed aside
French qualifier Nicolas Devilder 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 to take his Roland
Garros record to 23 wins in 23 matches as he continued his campaign
to emulate Bjorn Borg as the only man to win four titles in a row.
The Spaniard’s reward is a
match-up with Finnish 26th seed Jarkko Nieminen for a place in the
last 16.
Federer needed a set to get going
but after a rain delay he confidently blasted his way past Spanish
claycourter Albert Montanes with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 win.
He next takes on Croatia’s
Mario Ancic, the last man to beat him at Wimbledon in 2002. Ancic
won a four-setter against Spanish qualifier David Marrero.
Meanwhile, one of the men seen as
being one of the main obstacles in the way of a third straight Nadal
v Federer final, sixth seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, let
slip a two sets to love lead to lose 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 to
French wildcard Jeremy Chardy.
James Blake of the United States,
the seventh seed, also went out losing 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to
Latvian teenager Ernests Gulbis.
“The conditions were difficult
in that first set with all the rain and he played well. But once I
got ahead in the second and third sets I felt more and more
comfortable,” Federer said.
On taking on Ancic he said:
“Tough opponent—he has a good name and it should be exciting.
He’s been playing OK and is on the comeback trail. He is a good
friend of mine on the tour.”
Nadal clinched 13 of the last 14
games of the match against Devilder, the world 148, in an
embarrassingly one-sided encounter.
The 21-year-old wrapped up
victory on his second match point when his opponent netted a
forehand return.
In the women’s tournament,
third seed Jelena Jankovic reached the third round, but saw her
hopes of lifting a first Grand Slam hit by a painful injury to her
right forearm and elbow.
The 23-year-old Serb defeated
Croatian-born New Zealander Marina Erakovic 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), but she
needed extensive treatment to relieve the pain halfway through the
second set.
--AFP
|
