Top male tennis stars like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal sailed into the third round of the French Open, along with Jo-Wilfired Tsonga, who defeated Marcos Baghdatis in an entertaining five-setter. In the women's arena, Serena Williams and Venus Williams also progressed into the next round.
Djokovic, who is searching for his first French Open title, has looked in superb form in his first two matches so far. The Serbian defeated Belgium's Steve Darcis in straight sets on Thursday. Though the Belgian looked good in the opening exchanges, Djokovic prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, and will face Britain's Aljaz Bedene in the third round, which should not trouble the world number one.
Former world number one Nadal has won an incredible nine French Open titles, but he is no longer the dominant force on the ATP circuit, due to injuries, but when on song, he can tear apart his opponents. The Spaniard looks in no mood to take things lightly, as was witnessed by Argentina's Facundo Bagnis, who was thrashed 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
Nadal seems to be completely focused on winning his tenth Grand Slam title in clay, but the task ahead is going to be tough, and the Spaniard wants to improve as the competition moves ahead.
"I need to keep playing better if I want to have chances in the next rounds," CNN quoted Nadal as saying. "I know there are still things I can improve, so I'm still practicing and working on them."
Another Frenchman, Tsonga showed great character to come back from two sets down to defeat Marcos Baghdatis in the second round. It was a brilliant match, with both players fighting for each and every point, but the sixth seed looked better eventually, and emerged victorious, 6-7(8-6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
The Williams sisters were in a league of their own in the women's competition. Serena brushed aside her opponent, Teliana Pereira, 6-2, 6-1 in just 68 minutes. Her older sister, Venus, was no different, putting up an emphatic display against Louisa Chirico, emerging triumphant, with the score reading 6-2, 6-1.
The 2008 French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, also got past her second round opponent, Karumi Nara, after a tricky first set. The Serbian won 7-5, 6-1.
However, Canadian Eugenie Bouchard lost to Timea Bacsinszky, who looked in great form, winning the match 6-4, 6-4.
