Rainy day winners: Wet weather can't keep Federer, Venus from picking up wins

PARIS - Roger Federer was better than the weather.

On a third consecutive damp, chilly day at the French Open, the top-ranked Federer endured two rain delays while beating Alejandro Falla 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round Wednesday.

The two delays totaled 1 hour, 31 minutes, while the match lasted only 1 hour, 26 minutes.

"I'm happy to get through," Federer said. "It's not easy to come on and off. You always hope your game is still there and it hasn't left you."

Federer shanked forehands on two match points in the final game before closing out the victory to improve to 40-3 this year. He never lost his serve, won 55 of 68 service points and finished with 41 winners to 13 for Falla.

The final match of the evening found Venus Williams on center court in a Roland Garros sweatshirt, racing darkness to close out her match at 9:48 p.m. Williams, seeded 11th, lost the first four games but rallied and beat Emma Laine 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Temperatures were in the 50s for a second successive day, and because of rain, one match took seven hours to complete. No. 13 Nicolas Kiefer finally beat 29-year-old wild-card Marc Gicquel of France 6-0, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9.

Another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, lost to No. 3 David Nalbandian 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo of France, who took the court after the showers passed, overcame some nervous moments in the second set to beat Vera Dushevina 6-1, 7-6 (5).

The weather failed to faze No. 4-seeded Maria Sharapova, who wore long sleeves and beat Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1.

"It's sunny, and five minutes later it gets dark and windy," Sharapova said. "You just have to adjust and be patient."

Sharapova, recovering from an ankle injury she aggravated last week, moved well on the center-court clay.

"It was a lot better than my previous match," she said. "I didn't feel like I was moving great still, being cautious with the tape on, but pain-wise it felt a lot better."

No. 10 Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 champion, outlasted 19-year-old qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Korolev is the cousin of Anna Kournikova.

No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko beat the rain and became the first man to reach the third round when Flavio Saretta retired with the flu trailing 6-2, 4-1.

"I couldn't run anymore," Saretta said.

Davydenko played well from the beginning despite an 11 a.m. start.

"It looks like you're sleeping on the court the first few games because this was too early," Davydenko said.

Another Russian, No. 14-seeded Dinara Safina, beat Hana Sromova 6-0, 6-2. Safina hit 31 winners, including six aces.

"I can say it was an easy match today," Safina said. "I was pretty solid."

Safina's older brother, two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin, was fined $10,000 Wednesday for failing to hold a post-match news conference after losing in the opening round to Fernando Gonzalez.

Two French teenagers advanced on the women's side. Aravane Rezai, a 19-year-old qualifier, rallied to upset No. 22 Ai Sugiyama 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"This is a fabulous moment for me," said Rezai, who is ranked 142nd. "I was playing a match on Court Suzanne Lenglen with a lot of pressure. I started to recover at the end of the second set."

Her compatriot, 16-year-old Alize Cornet, beat 32-year-old Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the completion of a suspended match.

"When I realized I was playing someone who was twice my age, it's true that it was quite funny," Cornet said.

No. 24 Katarina Srebotnik beat Ashley Harkleroad 6-3, 6-2, leaving three Americans in the women's draw.

No. 25 Marion Bartoli and No. 27 Anna Chakvetadze were eliminated. Jelena Jankovic advanced to a third-round matchup against Mauresmo by beating Bartoli 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, while Li Na defeated Chakvetadze 7-5, 6-3.

No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova swept Sun Tiantian 6-1, 6-3. No. 17 Flavia Pennetta swept Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-0 in 52 minutes.

One seeded player on the men's side lost. No. 26 Jose Acasuso was beaten by Lukas Dlouhy 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-1.

Federer will next play No. 32 Nicolas Massu, who beat Max Mirnyi 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 champion, eliminated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

Davydenko takes a seven-match winning streak into his next match against No. 30 Carlos Moya, the 1998 champion, who held every service game and beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

"I know that I'm not a favorite here," the 29-year-old Moya said. "That changes things for you, because you're not under so much pressure. I think I've still got good tennis to play. ... Playing Davydenko is going to show me where I stand."

PARIS (AP) -

Weather: Mostly cloudy with three rain delays; high temperature of 59.

Thursday's forecast: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain and a high of 59.

Attendance: 34,989. Last year: 34,674.

Men's Seeded Winners: No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 3 David Nalbandian, No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko, No. 10 Gaston Gaudio, No. 12 Mario Ancic, No. 13 Nicolas Kiefer, No. 20 Thomas Berdych, No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 30 Carlos Moya, No. 32 Nicolas Massu.

Men's Seeded Losers: No. 26 Jose Acasuso.

Women's Seeded Winners: No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, No. 4 Maria Sharapova, No. 7 Patty Schnyder, No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 9 Francesca Schiavone, No. 11 Venus Williams, No. 14 Dinara Safina, No. 16 Nicole Vaidisova, No. 17 Flavia Pennetta, No. 24 Katarina Srebotnik.

Women's Seeded Losers: No. 22 Ai Sugiyama, No. 25 Marion Bartoli, No. 27 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 29 Sofia Arvidsson.

Suspended Matches: Among the matches suspended or postponed Wednesday were those involving Tim Henman, No. 7 Tommy Robredo - and Martina Navratilova in doubles.

On Court Thursday: Defending champions Rafael Nadal and No. 5 Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 12 Martina Hingis, No. 8 James Blake.

Stat of the Day: 7 hours - The amount of time it took to complete Kiefer's five-set victory over Marc Gicquel, including three rain delays.

Quote of the Day: "It's sunny, and five minutes later it gets dark and windy." - Sharapova.