PARIS, May 30 - World number one Roger Federer
rolled into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday with
a 6-1 6-2 7-6 defeat of wildcard Thierry Ascione.
After another day of gloomy skies and intermittent drizzle
at Roland Garros, the Swiss top seed only got on court after
1900 local time and was clearly in a hurry to get the job done.
Ascione, ranked 168th in the world, had reached the second
round of his home grand slam for the first time in five attempts
but he was simply outclassed in the opening two sets as Federer
unleashed his full repertoire of strokes.
Things got a little more complicated for the top seed in the
third set, however, as Frenchman Ascione provided some stubborn
resistance to prolong the contest.
Federer squandered two match points at 5-4 in the third set
as he was broken for the first time and he saw another three go
begging in the tiebreak as Ascione played some inspired winners
to come back from 6-3 down.
Last year's runner-up then had to save two set points before
clinching victory at the sixth attempt in one hour 51 minutes.