Roger Federer eased into the third round of the ATP French Open, recording a comfortable straight-sets win over Diego Sebastian Schwartzman
The Swiss last failed to reach the third round at Roland Garros in 2003, and that record rarely looked in any danger in a routine 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory on Wednesday.Schwartzman, ranked 109 in the world, put up a spirited performance against the fourth seed, but lacked the groundstrokes to match his illustrious opponent for long periods.The Argentine briefly threatened a shock when breaking Federer in game three of the opening set, but the world number four showed his class to break straight back, before moving ahead with another break in game six.From there, Federer ook command, holding to love in his next service game and claiming the lead on the first available set-point opportunity in game nine.The second set was a closely fought affair, with both men using their serve to good advantage.Schwartzman did force a break point in game two, but Federer was able to recover and hold before turning the screw at the business end of the set, breaking his opponent in game nine and holding to love to move two to the good.The crucial break arrived early in the third set, Federer moving 3-1 in front and, although Schwartzman saved three break points in game seven, he could not stop the inexorable charge of Federer.The Swiss sealed victory, holding to love in game 10 when Schwartzman sent a backhand return into the net, and will now take on Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.
