Federer Marches On To Third Round

Roger Federer easily moved into the third round at Roland Garros with a straight set triumph over lucky loser Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 Wednesday on Day Four of the French Open.

After being tested in the opening round by qualifier Diego Hartfield, the world number one had more trouble with the rain which interrupted play twice than his 139th ranked opponent.

"I could play very freely, which was a nice feeling to have this time around. The first round was more difficult," Federer told reporters after disposing of Falla in an hour 28-minutes.

"It's not easy, you know, to come on and off. Conditions are really slow and wet and everything," he added. "I'm just happy to be through. The match was okay. I sort of played really well in the first set. After that it was on and off. That was I think normal with the rain."

After a routine 20-minute first set, Federer worked harder to secure the second set with a break of serve on a forehand winner in the seventh game shortly after the first rain delay. From that point, he was in control and would cruise to victory with two more breaks in the third set.

"I thought I was always in control of the match," Federer pointed out. "He maybe had one little chance on break point to come back in the second set, but that was it. Otherwise, I always felt I was pretty much in control."

Federer will next take on 32nd seeded Chilean Nicolas Massu, who eliminated "The Beast" Max Mirnyi 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

While the top seed took care of business, third seeded Argentine David Nalbandian withstood a challenge from 19-year-old Frenchman Richard Gasquet- advancing in four sets, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

The match lasted two and a half hours. After each player split the first two sets, the pivotal third set was tight. After being broken by Gasquet to trail 3-4, Nalbandian broke back immediately to draw even. Gasquet fought off three more break points in the ninth game but eventually succumbed to Nalbandian's constant pressure in the 12th game to drop the set. From that point, the third seed assumed command against a gased Gasquet.

"My game wasn't as subtle as it was at the beginning," Nalbandian said afterwards. "There was a lot of wind. At one point I think I played six or seven games with the wind against me. But I realised that I had a quicker pace than him and that I was not going to lose."

Nalbandian will next meet either Dmitry Tursunov or Tim Henman. The 31st seeded Russian led Henman two sets to none before play was suspended. The match will be completed later today. One other men's second round match which will resume is between 21st seeded Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and Argentine M.Vassallo Arguello. Grosjean leads Arguello two sets to one.

Sixth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko was a 6-2, 4-1 winner when Flavio Saretta retired. Tenth seeded Argentine Gaston Gaudio needed five sets before prevailing over Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

German Nicolas Kiefer (13) had an even tougher time with Frenchman Marc Gicquel, outlasting him 6-0, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9. The match took four hours 50-minutes and the final set lasted an hour 55-minutes before Kiefer prevailed. He slugged 87 winners and had 81 unforced errors and broke his opponent nine times.

Croat Mario Ancic (12) also moved on in straight sets over Paul Capdeville 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Czech Tomas Berdych (20) defeated Italian Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. Former '03 French winner Juan Carlos Ferrero ousted German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Spaniard Carlos Moya (30) also moved on with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mikhail Youzhny.

One seed did fall. Argentine Jose Acasuso (26) was upset by Czech Lukas Dlouhy 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-1.

Other Round 2 winners included Raemon Sluiter and Alberto Montanes, who upset Andy Roddick in the first round.

Second round action continues Thursday with American James Blake taking on Nicolas Almagro while defending champion Rafael Nadal battles American Kevin Kim.