TENNIS: FRENCH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS:TOP SEED Rafael Nadal last night broke another French Open record as he stayed on course for a fifth successive title with a routine, straight-sets win over Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round.
The Spaniard won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to set a record of 30 straight triumphs at Roland Garros, surpassing Chris Evert’s run of 29 which came in the singles between 1974-81.
The 22-year-old Mallorcan was again far from his best, just as in his first-round win over Marcos Daniel, but he stayed consistent and had far too much in his locker for his gritty Russian opponent.
Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, who comfortably defeated Andrey Golubev in three sets, will be Nadal’s next opponent.
Earlier, Frenchman Fabrice Santoro bid an emotional farewell to Roland Garros following his first-round loss to Christophe Rochus.
The popular 36-year-old, playing his 20th and last French Open, could not turn around a match that had to be carried over from Tuesday after bad light stopped play.
Andy Murray is relieved his title hopes are still intact after he survived a mid-match slump to defeat Potito Starace in the second round.
The British number one was a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 winner against the Italian, setting up a clash with unseeded Janko Tipsarevic.
But he lost his way in the second and third sets, with Starace – the world number 104 – winning 11 out of 13 games as the Scot imploded.
Murray managed to recover from 5-1 down in that third set to win six games in a row and lay the platform for his victory.
“I managed to turn it around by playing a little bit more aggressive. I just went for my shots,” said Murray.
Tipsarevic was one of the players to upset a seed, as the Serbian knocked out Feliciano Lopez, the 28th seed, with a four-set victory.
Another was France’s Arnaud Clement, who beat 21st seed Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova relied on her famous battling qualities to come out on top in an epic, three-set tussle against fellow Russian Nadia Petrova in the second round.
Sharapova has not played a Major since Wimbledon last year because of a shoulder injury, and her ranking of 102 makes her a dangerous floater in the draw.
Petrova, the 11th seed, will count herself unlucky to have come up against Sharapova so early after losing 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 to the former world number one.
Sharapova, a semi-finalist here two years ago, will next play Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.
Earlier, top seed Dinara Safina maintained her stunning early form by making short work of fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko to breeze into the third round.
The world number one trounced her compatriot 6-1, 6-1 with a performance that was almost as convincing as her first-round defeat of Britain’s Anne Keothavong, when she did not lose a game.
“I’m doing the basic things right,” said Safina, who could meet reigning champion Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals.
“It’s a pretty good start to the tournament, a bit different to last year.”
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 27th seed and another player from Russia, sealed a third-round date with Safina with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) win against France’s Julie Coin.
Ivanovic is also showing decent form as she bids to defend the title she claimed by beating Safina in straight sets in last year’s final.
The Serbian, seeded eighth, swept aside the challenge of Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn to win 6-1, 6-2 and set up a meeting with 32nd seed Iveta Benesova.
Roland Garros results
(prefix denotes seeding)
MENS SINGLES
First round: Arnaud Clement (Fra) bt (21) Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-1, Christophe Rochus (Bel) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-4.
Second round:(1) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 6-1 6-4 6-2, Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) bt Andrey Golubev (Kaz) 6-4 6-3 6-1, (23) Robin Soderling (Swe) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, (14) David Ferrer (Spa) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-3 5-7 6-4 3-6 6-2, (10) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) leads Diego Junqueira (Arg) 4-6 6-3 6-0 2-2, (17) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) bt Nicolas Massu (Chi) 6-1 6-1 6-2, (31) Nicolas Almagro (Spa) bt Ernests Gulbis (Lat) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2, (8) Fernando Verdasco (Spa) bt Philipp Petzschner (Ger) 6-1 6-2 6-3, (3) Andy Murray (Brit) bt Potito Starace (Ita) 6-3 2-6 7-5 6-4, Janko Tipsarevic (Ser) bt (28) Feliciano Lopez (Spa) 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, (18) Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Mathieu Montcourt (Fra) 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-4, (13) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-0 6-3 6-1, (12) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Rui Machado (Por) 6-3 6-2 6-3, Josselin Ouanna (Fra) bt (20) Marat Safin (Rus) 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 3-6 10-8, (30) Victor Hanescu (Rom) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 7-5 7-5 7-5, (7) Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Robert Kendrick (US) 7-5 6-0 6-1.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
First round: (21) Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Maret Ani (Est) 6-4 7-5.
Second round: (1) Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Vitalia Diatchenko (Rus) 6-1 6-1, (27) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) bt Julie Coin (Fra) 6-2 7-6 (7-2), Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Polona Hercog (Slo) 3-6 6-4 6-2, Michelle Larcher De Brito (Por) bt (15) Jie Zheng (Chn) 6-4 6-3, (9) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Kristina Barrois (Ger) 7-6 (7-1) 7-5, (22) Carla Suarez-Navarro (Spa) bt Lucie Hradecka (Cze) 6-2 6-4, (32) Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (Rus) 6-1 6-2, (8) Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-1 6-2, Lucie Safarova (Cze) leads (3) Venus Williams (USA) 7-6 (7-5), (29) Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt Elena Vesnina (Rus) 6-2 6-0, (20) Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) 6-1 6-0, Gisela Dulko (Arg) bt Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) 7-6 (7-5) 0-6 6-2, Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt (11) Nadia Petrova (Rus) 6-2 1-6 8-6, Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) bt Arantxa Rus (Ned) 6-0 6-2, (25) Na Li (Chn) bt Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) 6-1 6-4, Olga Govortsova (Blr) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-5.
