Federer turns on the power but overshadowed by marathon men

TOP men’s seed Roger Federer strode imperiously into the second round of the French Open in a performance which underlined his title credentials.

But strangely the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion found himself over- shadowed by two French players, Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement, who created a slice of history in a marathon contest.

Santoro burst into tears as the crowd acclaimed his victory over Clement in the longest match ever played.

He won 6-4 6-3 6-7 (7/5) 3-6 16-14 in a match which lasted a record six hours and 33 minutes, concluding yesterday after it had been halted at 5-5 in the deciding set on Monday evening.

Santoro saved two match points as their match outlasted the previous longest by one hour and two minutes.

“I could not dream of a better place than Roland Garros, which is also the most beautiful grand slam in the world, to break that record,” said Santoro, competing in his 15th French Open.

Clement, meanwhile, failed to enter into the spirit and was apparently devastated by the defeat.

“I don’t play tennis to break that sort of record, especially when I lose the match and I am gutted about it,” he said.

Swiss Federer, who had lost in the first round here the previous two years, thrashed unseeded Belgian Kristof Vliegen 6-1 6-2 6-1 in one hour 16 minutes.

“I am so happy I progressed to the second round, this is a relief for me,” said the world number one.

Aside from Santoro, there was more French cheer provided by Sebastien Grosjean who humbled American Kevin Kim 6-1 6-1 6-1 but seventh seed Rainer Schuttler, of Germany, made an early exit however, going down 6-4 7-5 6-4 at the hands of Belgium’s Xavier Malisse.

In the women’s event, the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, both progressed to the second round after respective victories over Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-2 and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2 6-4.

Serena said it was good to be back on Court Philippe Chatrier 12 months after a hostile crowd in the same arena had jeered and reduced her to tears in the final which she lost to French- speaking Belgian Justine Henin- Hardenne.

“I was excited to come back out there. I wanted to play nice tennis and when I arrived people applauded me. I did not think about last year at all,” she said.

Serena’s sister Venus, who was troubled by an abdominal injury last season, is still not happy with her performance despite some recent good results.

“I am not too satisfied by my level of play. I’d like to be better and I need to improve in every area,” she said.

“I simply have to trust my ability to take matches without pressure.”

France’s Mary Pierce, the 2000 champion, dispatched Luxembourg’s Claudine Schaul 6-2 6-3 while 12th seed Ai Sugiyama beat Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-3.

Martina Navratilova’s return to singles action after 10 years ended in defeat when she was swept aside 6-1 6-3 by Gisela Duklo, an Argentinian 28 years her junior.

But, while her tennis unsurprisingly lacked the energy of her opponent, 47-year-old Navratilova lived up to her reputation for controversy during the first-round match when she took to the court wearing a logo on her hat, breaching tour rules.

She refused to change her headwear, instead requesting a scissors from the umpire and she cut off the logo.