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French Open PHOTOS: Federer cruises into 2nd round
Roger Federer barely broke sweat as he eased into the second round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win against unheralded Slovakian Lukas Lacko on Sunday.
The fourth seed, chasing a second Roland Garros trophy and a record-extending 18th grand slam title, produced some fine attacking tennis in an 84-minute master class.
Swiss Federer, who claimed his last grand slam title at Wimbledon in 2012, won a lot of quick points thanks to thumping backhands and whipping forehands on court Philippe Chatrier.
He will next face Portuguese Gastao Elias or Argentine Diego Sebastian Schwartzman.
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Error-prone Serena staggers past Frenchwoman Lim
World No 1 Serena Williams huffed and puffed into the second round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win over local favourite Alize Lim on Sunday.
The defending champion sprayed court Philippe Chatrier with unforced errors in a match that was not as one-sided as the score line suggested.
Williams was so confident she would crush her training partner that she warmed up for the encounter wearing a blazer suit, but Lim proved to be a tenacious opponent despite her ranking of 138.
In the opening set, Lim claimed 27 points but surprisingly 23 of those came thanks to Williams's unforced errors.
Williams wasted four match points in the second set before wrapping it up on the fifth when her opponent sent a backhand long.
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Raonic, Radwanska go through early
Milos Raonic and Agnieszka Radwanska shook off the morning chill to ease into the second round of the French Open on the opening day of the second grand slam of the year on Sunday.
Poland's Radwanska, the third seed, won 6-3, 6-0 after the first seven games against Zhang Shuai went against serve. Canadian Raonic, seeded eighth, beat the feisty Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-3 and then charmed the Roland Garros crowd by conducting his on-court interview in French.
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'Every two-set match is great in a two-week tournament'
Radwanska set the ball rolling on the main Philippe Chatrier show court under overcast skies. Forecasters warn intermittent rain is expected over the early days of the tournament.
Wearing a floral print dress perhaps in anticipation of more springlike temperatures, Radwanska took a while to get into her rhythm against Zhang and both women struggled badly with their service.
But the Pole eventually held for 5-3, after saving three break points, and then broke the Chinese to take the set. The second set was a rout, however.
"I think it was a very wet court. I think the courts are not always dry, it's raining every day, so it makes the courts much slower," Radwanska said.
"Every two-set match is great in a two-week tournament. It's important that I spent only one hour on court," added Radwanska, who played with a heavily strapped thigh.
She was badly hobbled by a knee injury when losing the Indian Wells final to Flavia Pennetta in March.
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Raonic recovered after being broken in the 2nd set
Raonic pushed Novak Djokovic in the Rome semi-finals before losing in three sets to the eventual champion and he eased through the first set against Kyrgios.
The eighth seed was broken midway through the second but recovered immediately, leaving his 19-year-old opponent to hurl his racket to the court, shaking his head.
The Australian got increasingly frustrated through the second-set tiebreak, berating himself repeatedly, before Raonic took it 7-1.
A finely executed forehand slice from the back of the court forced Kyrgios to hit long, giving Raonic a 2-0 lead in the third set. But it was soon Raonic's turn to berate himself as a double fault gifted back the break of serve.
Another break in the sixth game put Raonic on course for a three-set victory and he served out to win on his third match point.