Teenage duo take centre stage at Roland Garros

Two 18-year-olds with a world of talent meet in the third round at Roland Garros today when Spaniard Rafael Nadal clashes with Richard Gasquet of France.

The fourth seed and tournament favourite, Nadal extended his winning streak to 19 matches with a 6-2 6-2 6-4 rout of Belgian Xavier Malisse on Wednesday.

Gasquet, the 30th seed and one of just two players to defeat top seed Roger Federer this year, advanced with a 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 triumph over Peter Wessels of the Netherlands.

The left-handed Nadal is 2-1 against Gasquet, including a three-set victory in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo in April.

Nadal went on to win the event, one of his five claycourt titles this year.

“He’s a great player,” Gasquet said. “I have to play great tennis to (beat) him. To (beat) him, I have to play a perfect match against him. We will see.

“His fans are going to be out there,” Nadal said. “But you have to overcome that pressure. I’m going to play my game. If he plays better and wins, that’s fine. I’ll just go home.”

Federer, the world No 1 from Switzerland, is an amazing 43-2 this year and held match points in his two defeats, to eventual champion Marat Safin of Russia in the Australian Open semi-finals and to Gasquet in the Monte Carlo quarters.

Federer, who has posted straight-set wins in the first two rounds, meets No 25 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile today. Gonzalez also has yet to drop a set.

Fifth seed and defending champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina will face Felix Mantilla of Spain in the third round.

Gaudio advanced in a walkover on Wednesday when Russian Dmitry Tursunov pulled out with a knee injury.

Mantilla needed five sets to beat No 26 Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic.

Second seed Andy Roddick suffered a shock second-round exit at the hands of unseeded Argentinian Jose Acasuso following a five-set marathon yesterday.

Acasuso, who is ranked 69th in the world and has won just two titles in his career, defeated the 22-year-old American 3-6 4-6 6-4 6-3 8-6 in three hours and 21 minutes.

In the women’s draw, top seed Lindsay Davenport and fellow American Venus Williams, the 11th seed, are in third-round action after struggling in the second round.

Davenport was two points from defeat before rallying past Shuai Peng of China, 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0. Williams recorded a 6-3 3-6 6-3 win over Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga.

Today Davenport meets Virginie Razzano of France and Williams faces 15-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva, who upset No 19 Shinobu Asagoe of Japan on Tuesday.

While Williams appears to have a fairly open draw, Davenport could face surging 14th seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the fourth round.

Clijsters, a finalist here in 2001 and 2003, plays No 20 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia today.