PARIS — Apparently, even Roger Federer, with his record 16 Grand Slam titles, was in need of some advice on a wet and windy Wednesday at the French Open.
Forced off the court by two rain delays, and “pushed,” as he put it, by a player with a career record below .500, Federer turned to Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi for words of wisdom during the breaks. Told to be more aggressive early, then to use more drop shots late, Federer wound up with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alejandro Falla in the second round.
“Those were good things he told me,” said the top-ranked Federer, the French Open’s defending champion for the first time. “Those little details make a crucial difference.”
The defending women’s champion, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, encountered quite a bit more trouble than Federer did — she faced four match points in the second set against 41st-ranked Andrea Petkovic and was so distraught she whacked herself in the leg with her racket.
Petkovic made matters easier with unforced groundstroke errors on all four of those chances to win, though, and Kuznetsova eventually came all the way back for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory — but not before wasting three match points of her own.
“I’m not really sure what happened,” Kuznetsova said. “I saw that she got tight.”
Other women moving into the third round included No. 2 Venus Williams, who walloped one serve at 128 mph in a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Arantxa Parra Santonja, then effortlessly volleyed aside a series of questions about her lace dress in the postmatch news conference.
Also winning were No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki, No. 14 Flavia Pennetta, No. 15 Aravane Rezai, No. 19 Nadia Petrova and Williams’ next opponent, No. 26 Dominika Cibulkova, a semifinalist last year.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Wednesday:
Stat of the day: 4 — Match points overcome by No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova in her 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Andrea Petkovic.
Quote of the day: “I blame Monica.” — No. 2 Venus Williams, who beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4, on how she started grunting when she was 10 because Monica Seles was her favorite player
On court today: MEN — No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. Horacio Zeballos, No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Kei Nishikori, No. 4 Andy Murray vs. Juan Ignacio Chela, No. 6 Andy Roddick vs. Blaz Kavcic. WOMEN — No. 1 Serena Williams vs. Julia Goerges, No. 4 Jelena Jankovic vs. Kaia Kanepi, No. 5 Elena Dementieva vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues, No. 12 Maria Sharapova vs. Kirsten Flipkens.
Today’s TV: Tennis Channel — 3-10 a.m.; ESPN2 — 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Associated Press
