French Open: Day 5 Update

Roger Federer, the Williams sisters, Jankovic, Tsonga, Kuznetsova, Monfils, Roddick and Dementieva are some of the big names who made it through to the third round today.

Roger Federer found himself in a much tighter and tougher match than he would have expected or is used to in the French Open's second round Thursday before producing a 7-6 (8), 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Jose Acasuso of Argentina.

Federer, whose season hasn't been up to his high standards, was up to the task each time, though. "Mentally, I've always been very strong, but I'm not being put in a position like this very often, you know," Federer said. Then, moments later, as if to make sure everyone understood him, Federer added: "Coming through such a match is always a great feeling. Like I said, I'm not part of such close matches that often."

Federer, in contrast, offered this assessment of his performance: "I was not managing and controlling the match the way I should have."

Yet there he was, taking a 6-3 lead in the first-set tiebreaker. Federer erased the first two set points with aces before Acasuso pulled a forehand wide. Then, ahead 7-6, Acasuso shanked a shot to waste No. 4, and Federer eventually claimed that set.

Charismatic Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave the partisan crowd something to chant, as the electric Frenchmen with the can't-miss-smile stormed back in a fourth set tiebreaker and advanced to the third round over Argentine Juan Monaco, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8).


Excitement was at a fever pitch in the deciding moments of the fourth set as Tsonga, trailing 5-1 in the tiebreak, bravely stormed back to even the score at 5-5. "Tsonga! Tsonga!" chants reverberated throughout the rafters at Court Suzanne Lenglen, and as hard as Monaco tried to stem the tide, he finally wilted on Tsonga's third match point.


Tsonga, who had never won at Roland Garros until the first round this year, will face Belgian Christophe Rochus next in the third round.

Gael Monfils, a semifinalist in last year's French Open, invigorated the French crowds even more, as he was an easy straight set winner over Victor Crivoi, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

The second round match between fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic and Sergiy Stakhovsky was suspended on Thursday due to bad light after 90 minutes of play.Novak is two sets in front, 6-3 6-4.


Venus Williams fought back from a set down and then saved a match point against unheralded Lucie Safarova in her French Open second round match today. The No3 seed, who eventually prevailed 6-7, 6-2, 7-5, will now face 29th seed Agnes Szavay.

Jelena Dokic left the court in floods of tears on Thursday after retiring with a back injury while leading by a set in her French Open second round match against Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva."It's a shock and a disappointment," the Australian former world number four told a news conference after quitting with the score at 6-2 3-4 against.

"I felt like I had the match in my hands and I was doing well and even if I didn't win, I was playing really well. I felt like I probably played the best tennis that I played this year."

It was a much simpler affair for fifth seed Jelena Jankovic, who reached the third round with a 6-1 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova, and Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who took less than 50 minutes in a 6-0 6-2 win over Galina Voskoboeva.