Tennis/French Open:Finally sun washed across the art deco stadium and long shadows appeared on the clay for the first time. Parisian spring resumed and at Roland Garros the drip feed of matches over the opening two days finally ended with a flurry of activity.
But in the precious dry hours gifted to the tournament yesterday, several of the likely characters, who should feature in the latter stages next week, emerged from the tunnels and runways where they have sheltered since Sunday.
Roger Federer's dismissal of Michael Russell after being forced off court on Monday was, in his own words, "a solid performance, not an extraordinary match". The 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win against the 29-year-old 68th-ranked player in the world didn't have to be extraordinary in his chase of the elusive Grand Slam. Federer currently holds the other three major titles and seeks to become only the third player in history to win four in succession.
If sufficiency or efficiency were the buzzwords for the Swiss player's display, those same characteristics were far from the game of American Andy Roddick. The American third seed may well have come to Paris ranked 122 places higher than Russia's Igor Andreev, but he also arrived with the baggage of having lost in the first round in three of his previous seven visits.
Even with an anxious coach, Jimmy Connors, watching Roddick's clay-court game was simply not up to that of his feisty opponent. The 24-year-old ranted and raved at himself as his French Open title once again trickled away.
Andreev, who had the distinction of being the last player to beat Rafael Nadal on clay until Federer beat him recently in the final of Hamburg, had spent six months out of the game last year following knee surgery but had shown some form on clay prior to Roland Garros. While Roddick won the opening set 6-3, his grip quickly slipped and he rarely looked like regaining it as Adreev took control of the match with huge forehand winners. The Roddick serve, somewhat slower in the cold conditions, never developed its normal menace, while his groundstrokes and ball placement were easily picked off.
Countless times Roddick was stranded on the tramlines as Andreev whipped another forehand into the open prairie at the other side. Roddick had chances to break back serve in the fourth set but again he couldn't convert. By the time Andreev had won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 he had hit 66 direct winners.
Roddick was the biggest loss of the day but accompanied through the trap door by Tim Henman. No longer carrying expectations in the twilight of his career, Henman, nonetheless, meekly departed to the Latvian 19-year-old Ernests Gulbis in three sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Gulbis played well to beat the former semi-finalist but the exit to one of the youngest players on the tour was ignominious enough to have Henman whack the court surrounds with his racquet at the end in frustration.
Lleyton Hewitt advanced 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 against Max Mirnyi, while Nadal also came through 7-5, 6-3 6-2 against Argentina's Juan-Martin Del Potro.
In the women's draw, Jelena Jankovic, who had considered giving up the game just over a year ago because she believed that her career had crashed and burned, has managed quite a successful rebuild from the wreckage and has played her way into a position where she is now regarded as a possible winner here along with Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Yesterday's opponent Stephanie Foretz may have been four years older than the 22-year-old Jankovic but the Serb, who served her time in the Nick Bollitieri boot camp in Bradenton, Florida, took few riskd and wasted little time in getting her booming ground strokes between the lines.
An admirer of Monica Seles, Jankovic has a playing style like the former champion. Taller than Seles, her two-fisted backhands match even the Williams sisters for power.
The 143 ranked, Foret, with her quaintly French spectacles, always played the role as the bullied partner in this one-sided 6-2, 6-2 exchange. After 68 minutes play Jankovic was signing autographs and talking down her chances of winning a first title.
(MEN'S SINGLES
(prefix denotes seeding)
L Recouderc (Fra) bt S Querrey (US 7-6(4) 2-6 6-0 6-7(5) 6-3,
J Bjorkman (Swe) bt P Luczak (Aus) 6-7(4) 5-7 6-3 6-3 6-1,
M Zabaleta (Arg) bt 26-A Calleri (Arg) 6-4 6-7(5) 7-3(5) 7-5
G Simon (Fra) bt V Spadea (US) 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-3
I Karlovic (Cro) bt 8-J Blake (US) 4-6 6-4 7-5 7-5
J Pablo Brzezicki (Arg) bt R Kendrick (US) 6-1 3-6 6-2 6-1
F Serra (Fra) bt I Kunitsyn (Rus) 6-3 6-0 6-2
2-R Nadal (Spa) bt J M Del Potro (Arg) 7-5 6-3 6-2
B Ulihrach (Czech Rep) bt 24-D Hrbaty (Slo) 6-2 5-7 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3
G Gaudio (Arg) bt M Gicquel (Fra) 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-3
J Hajek (Czech Rep) bt T Johansson (Swe) 7-5 7-6(3) 7-6(3)
P-H Mathieu (Fra) bt 31-F Mayer (Ger) 6-3 6-4 6-2
R Stepanek (Czech Rep) bt 5-F Gonzalez (Chi) 6-2 6-2 6-4
28-P Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt L Dlouhy (Czech Rep) 6-2 3-6 7-5 4-6 17-15
20-J Nieminen (Fin) bt F Lopez (Sp) 6-2 6-4 7-6(2)
E Gulbis (Lat) bt T Henman (Brit) 6-4 6-3 6-2
K Pless (Den) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (Tai) 6-3 6-2 7-6(1)
I Navarro (Spa) bt B Pasanski (Ser) 7-6(1) 6-4 6-4
N Massu (Chi) bt L Horna (Per) 6-4 7-5 3-6 6-7(1) 6-2
14-L Hewitt (Aus) bt M Mirnyi (Bel 6-3 6-1 6-3
I Andreev (Rus) bt 3-A Roddick (US) 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4
21-D Tursunov (Rus) bt A Di Mauro (Ita) 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3
F Verdasco (Spa) bt J Haehnel (Fra) 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-0
G Monfils (France) bt O Rochus (Bel) 4-6 6-4 6-2 3-6 6-1
O Patience (Fra) bt J Eysseric (Fra) 6-1 3-6 6-2 6-4
13-M Youzhny (Rus) bt J Hernych (Czech Rep retired)
E Roger-Vasselin (Fra) bt M Daniel (Bra) 6-1 4-1 (Daniel retired)
M Llodra (Fra) bt N Devilder (Fra) 6-4 6-3 6-3
15-D Nalbandian (Arg) bt L Hyung-Taik (SKor) 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3
A Montanes (Spa) bt 25-R Soederling (Swe) 7-6(4) 4-1 (retired)
16-M Baghdatis (Cyp) bt S Grosjean (Fra) 6-3 6-2 6-4
17-J C Ferrero (Spa) bt A Delic (US) 6-7(2) 6-3 6-3 6-4
32-N Almagro (Spa) bt J Gimelstob (US) 6-4 6-4 6-4
S Koubek (Aust) bt C Rochus (Bel) 6-7(7) 7-6(1) 6-4 1-2 (retired)
M Vassallo Arguello (Arg) bt A Falla (Colombia) 6-3 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(4)
18-Juan Ignacio Chela (Argentina) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 6-7(5) 6-0 6-3 6-3
W Eschauer (Aust) bt A Sidorenko (Fra) 6-3 3-6 6-3 5-4 (retired)
11-R Gasquet (Fra) bt Nicolas Mahut (France) 6-3 6-2 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo (Spain) 0-6 5-7 6-2 7-5 6-4
K Vliegen (Belgium) bt D Udomchoke (Thai) 6-2 6-4 6-3
C Berlocq (Arg) bt 30-J Benneteau (Fra 6-7(5) 7-5 6-2 6-3
M Montcourt (Fra) bt B Becker (Ger) 6-3 6-1 6-3
29-F Volandri (Ita) bt P Capdeville (Chi) 6-3 7-5 6-3
J Monaco (Arg) bt F Fognini (Ita) 3-6 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-4 7-I
Ljubicic (Cro) bt A Clement (Fra) 6-1 7-5 7-6(2)
K Economidis (Gre) bt C Guccione (Aus) 6-7(6) 6-4 6-4 6-1
1-R Federer (Swi) bt M Russell (U.S.) 6-4 6-2 6-4
27-J Melzer (Austria) bt J Acasuso (Arg) 6-4 7-5 6-4
19-G Canas (Arg) bt V Hanescu (Rom) 6-3 6-1 6-4
9-T Robredo (Spa) bt Ser Roitman (Arg) 6-3 6-4 6-2
N Lapentti (Ecu) bt A Peya (Aust) 6-1 6-4 2-1 (retired)
T Ascione (Fra) bt M Cilic (Cro) 6-2 6-2 6-1
S Bolelli (Italy) bt M Verkerk (Neth 6-1 6-4 6-4.
WOMEN'S SINGLES
C Castano (Col) bt E Laine (Fin) 1-6 7-5 6-4
*A Petkovic (Ger) bt J Gajdosova (Slovakia) 4-6 6-3 6-3
*O Savchuk (Ukraine) bt Y Shvedova (Rus) 7-5 7-5
18-M Bartoli (Fra) bt A Rezai (Fra) 6-2 6-4
T Obziler (Isr) bt M Czink (Hun) 6-3 6-4
20-S Bammer (Aust) bt R Vinci (Ita) 6-4 6-4
23-F Schiavone (Ita) bt Y Meusburger (Aust) 6-2 6-4
T Tanasugarn (Thai) bt C Dell'Acqua (Aus) 6-3 4-6 6-4
M Sequera (Ven) bt V Razzano (Fra) 5-7 6-3 9-7
T Bacsinszky (Swi) bt Z Jie (Chi) 7-6(3) 6-0
S Cohen-Aloro (Fra) bt A Yakimova (Bel) 7-6(3) 6-1
A Amanmuradova (Uzb) bt V King (US) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3
S Perry (US) bt O Sanchez (Fra) 3-6 6-4 6-3
P Parmentier (Fra) bt M Koryttseva (Ukr) 6-4 3-6 7-5
M Kirilenko (Rus) bt M Elena Camerin (Ita) 6-3 6-0
K Peschke (Czech Rep) bt 11-N Petrova (Rus) 7-5 5-7 6-0
N Llagostera (Spa) bt A Smashnova (Isr) 6-2 7-5
M Johansson (Fra) bt A-L Groenefeld (Ger) 7-5 6-4
13-E Dementieva (Rus) bt A Kerber (Ger) 6-3 6-2
28-M Santangelo (Ita) bt A Radwanska (Pol) 6-1 6-4
6-N Vaidisova (Czech Rep) bt E Gagliardi (Swi) 6-4 6-3
4-J Jankovic (Ser) beat S Foretz (Fra) 6-2 6-2.
