Roger, Serena boot out foes

ROGER Federer hammers a return to Indian opponent Somdev Devvarman. AFP

PARIS—Roger Federer walked onto Court Suzanne Lenglen, smiled when greeted with applause and looked up into the stands, where three youngsters waved a banner that read, “Roger 4 Ever.”

Forever? Probably not, but Federer easily outlasted qualifier Somdev Devvarman in the second round of the French Open, winning, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, Wednesday.

Top-ranked Serena Williams also showed staying power, extending her career-best winning streak to 26 matches by beating wild card Caroline Garcia of France, 6-1, 6-2.

While Williams looks unbeatable of late, Federer has yet to win a tournament this year, the first time he has arrived at Roland Garros without a title since 2000. But he’s rested and healthy, and his vast repertoire of shots was on full display against Devvarman, who is ranked 188th and now 0-9 against top-10 players.

The No. 2-seeded Federer glided across the clay, hitting winners from all over the court—even beyond the alleys—and looking at ease on a surface that once vexed him.

He moved ahead of Budge Patty into third place on the men’s list for match victories at Roland Garros with 56. Guillermo Vilas and Nicola Pietrangeli share the record of 58.

When Federer finally took the Roland Garros title in 2009, he completed a career Grand Slam and tied Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major titles. He now seeks a record 18th major title, and his first since Wimbledon last year.

Through two rounds, both against qualifiers, Federer has lost only 11 games.

“I’m happy that I was playing offensive and aggressive tennis in the first two matches,” he said. “I didn’t back off and start to play passive tennis and wait for mistakes.”

Williams has dropped just four games. She played the day’s final match and finished in a hurry, committing only nine unforced errors and never facing a break point.

“It’s important for me to win easily,” she said. “It’s also important for me to play well. If I play well, it will bode well for me at Roland Garros.”

Speaking French to the crowd during a postmatch interview, Williams was asked what she plans to work on in practice.

“I’d like to improve everything. My French, too,” she said, laughing.

The day began with No. 3 Victoria Azarenka filling a mostly empty stadium court with her familiar shrieks as she beat Elena Vesnina of Russia, 6-1, 6-4, in a first-round match postponed one day because of rain.

“I felt like I’m one of the last ones to start,” she said. “It was a long wait, but I think performance-wise it was a good match.”

Azarenka waited in vain to play for much of the day on a rainy Tuesday, but said she wasn’t flustered by the delay.

“I just really was chilling the whole day, watching ‘The Voice,”’ she said. “It was incredible. I was so entertained. There’s this girl, her name is Judith. She was a duet singer with Michael Jackson. She’s absolutely incredible.”

Sara Errani, the 2012 runner-up to Maria Sharapova, beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-1. Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki lost to Bojana Jovanovski 7-6 (2), 6-3.

In other men’s second-round play, No. 4 David Ferrer broke serve eight times and beat fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France eliminated Jarkko Nieminen, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3. No. 10 Marin Cilic defeated 18-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.  AP