Federer made to work for victory

Roger Federer continued to make heavy weather of a straightforward-looking draw at the French Open as he scraped past Nicolas Mahut 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 in the third round today.

The world number three was not expected to be troubled until a scheduled quarter-final against either Tomas Berdych or Juan Martin Del Potro but, after losing a set to unheralded Romanian Adrian Ungur in round two, he again struggled.