Federer and Williams Advance in French Open
Roger Federer and Venus Williams advance into the third round after winning their second-round matches at the French Open, both gunning for the only Grand Slam title they have failed to get.
Still, the second-seeded Federer has managed to survive in his least favorite surface in a match against Argentina’s Jose Acasuso. He lagged 5-1 against the Argentinian before recovering and winning the match 7-6 (10-8), 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
The third-seeded and seven-time Grand Slam Champion Williams also came close to defeat, needing to save a match point before winning to Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-5. She was joined in the third round by No. 5 seed Jelena Jankovic who defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2.
The Roland Garros title has remained elusive for Swiss Federer after playing runner-up to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the last three finals.
Williams failed to get the clay-court title after losing to sister Serena in the 2002 finals. Serena played a match against Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain last May 28 while Australian Jelena Dokic took on No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva of Russia.
Serbia’s fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic will play against Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, as No. 6 seed American Andy Roddick will play against Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic.
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