Nadal, Federer in cruise control

PARIS – Rafael Nadal, bidding for an historic fifth successive French Open, and Roger Federer, still seeking a first Roland Garros crown to complete a career Grand Slam, swept into the second round yesterday.

Top seed and world number one Nadal, sporting a bright pink shirt, saw off plucky Brazilian qualifier Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 to take his career record here to 29 wins in 29 matches.
The 22-year-old Nadal has now gone past the previous best sequence he shared with former six-time champion Bjorn Borg, who had 28 straight victories between 1978 and 1981.
Nadal will next face either Igor Kunitsyn or Teimuraz Gabashvili, both Russians, for a place in the last 32.
‘The first match is always difficult. I was a little nervous because this tournament is very special to me, but I feel good,’ said Nadal, who arrived in Paris having lost his 33-match claycourt winning streak to Federer in Madrid.
He also explained his choice of bright clothing.
‘It’s the same reason why I wore white and yellow two weeks ago – because it’s better than dressing the same colour every week,’ he said.
Federer, who has lost the last three finals here to Nadal, overcame dropping his first service game to see off Spanish journeyman Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
The Swiss star, the holder of 13 Grand Slam titles, hit 10 aces and 38 winners in his win over the former French Open junior champion and next faces either Argentina’s Jose Acasuso or Spanish qualifier Santiago Ventura.
safina through
Women’s world number one Dinara Safina opened her campaign with a 6-0, 6-0 mauling of Anne Keothavong as the Russian’s howitzer hitting ruthlessly exposed the Briton’s glaring weaknesses.
Safina, the 2008 runner-up and bidding to win a maiden Grand Slam title, will face compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko, a qualifier, for a place in the last 32.
Keothavong, the world number 48, had come into the tournament buoyed by her performance in Warsaw last week where she became the first British woman in 26 years to make the semi-finals of a WTA claycourt event.
But her sun-blessed Roland Garros debut turned into a nightmare as Safina showed no mercy, racing to victory in just over an hour on the back of three breaks of serve in each set.
The 25-year-old Keothavong had the minor satisfaction of saving four match points before the world number one secured victory with another pinpoint, down-the-line forehand.
It was one of 16 winners for Safina compared to just two for the hapless Briton.
Safina said it was hard to feel sympathy for her opponent.
Keothavong’s compatriots Melanie South and Katie O’Brien were also knocked out.
South went down to the highly regarded 16-year-old Portuguese Michelle Larcher de Brito 0-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 while O’Brien lost 6-1, 6-1 to Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
Also making progress was third seed Venus Williams, the 2002 runner-up, who saw off Amercian compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
Maria Sharapova made a winning return to Grand Slam tennis when she came from behind to beat Belarus’s Anastasiya Yakimova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round.
in comeback
The Russian former world number one, who underwent surgery on her right shoulder last August and only returned to singles action in Warsaw last week, was contesting her first Grand Slam match since a second-round defeat to countrywoman Alla Kudryavtseva at last year’s Wimbledon.- Nampa-AFP