Federer defeat Falla in French Open

Top-ranked Roger Federer endured one tense set and two rain delays before eliminating Alejandro Falla of Colombia 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the French Open today.



After three days of warm sunshine, conditions were damp and cool for the start of round two. There was a third delay of 90 minutes after Federer finished.



Number 5 seed Robin Soderling won 20 of the first 22 points and went on to beat unseeded American Taylor Dent 6-0, 6-1, 6-1.



Other men\'s winners included Number 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Number 10 Marin Cilic and Number 11 Mikhail Youzhny.



Only one seeded man lost: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. He was beaten by Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5.



Meanwhile, the defending women\'s champion, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, overcame four matches points in the second set and beat Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.



Petkovic committed unforced errors on all four points.



Before the rain, Number 2 seed Venus Williams used her big serve to beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4.



Williams improved to 14-2 on clay in 2010. She\'s seeded second behind her younger sister Serena, who scouted while sitting next to their father. The sisters could meet in the final.



Number 3 Caroline Wozniacki defeated Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-1, and Number 26 Dominika Cibulkova rallied past American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.