The world's top two ranked tennis players - men's number one Roger Federer of Switzerland and women's number one Amelie Mauresmo of France - have reached the third round of the French Open in Paris.
Federer overcame more than 90 minutes of rain delays and his opponent, unseeded Colombian Alejandro Falla, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. The Swiss star takes on Nicolas Massu of Chile, who beat Max Mirnyi of Belarus in straight sets (6-4, 7-5, 6-4).
Mauresmo took the court after the rain and defeated Russian Vera Dushevina, 6-1, 7-6. The French player faces Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro, a three-set winner over France's Marion Bartoli (2-6, 6-4, 6-1).
Elsewhere in men's play Wednesday, third seed David Nalbandian of Argentina defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet in four sets (6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0). Nalbandian plays either Tim Henman of Britain or Dmitry Tursunov of Russia. Their match was suspended because of darkness.
Other men advancing include former champions Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain and Gaston Gaudio of Argentina.
In women's play, American Venus Williams played into the near darkness before beating Emma Laine of Finland (7-6, 6-2). Fourth seed Maria Sharapova of Russia beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic (6-4, 6-1). Sharapova plays Australian Alicia Molik, a three-set winner over Romania's Anda Perianu (3-6, 7-6, 6-3).
Other women's winners included seventh seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, eighth seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, ninth seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy, 14th seeded Russian Dinara Safina and 16th seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
