Paris, May 30: Venus Williams struggled with erratic ground strokes and a persistent opponent before winning the final three games to beat Evie Dominikovic 6-3 4-6 6-2 in the second round at the French Open. Men's top seed Lleyton Hewitt, meanwhile, survived a three and half hour marathon against Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, winning 6-3 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to reach the third round yesterday.
Hewitt failed to convert two match points on serve in the fourth set before winning it in a tie-breaker. Davydenko committed 112 unforced errors to 72 for Hewitt, who was also on the court for more than three hours in the opening round.
Williams, seeded third, committed 68 unforced errors, lost her serve five times and needed nearly two hours to advance.
Advancing more easily were no. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters, No. 6 Lindsay Davenport and No. 7 Jennifer Capriati.
Clijsters beat Marlene Weingartner 6-2 6-2. Capriati defeated Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-0. No. 10 Jelena Dokic was upset by Tina Pisnik 4-6 6-3 6-2.
In men's play, defending champion Albert Costa was extended to five sets for the second round in a row. Costa, seeded ninth, outlasted Radek Stepanek 6-3 5-7 6-4 3-6 6-4 in three hours, 38 minutes.
Frenchman Nicolas Coutelot delighted home fans at Roland Garros by upsetting 2002 Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3 6-3 4-6 2-6 6-1. Coutelot, a qualifier, had not won a tour-level match all year until this week.
Three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, seeded 15th, routed Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-1 6-0 6-1.
No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, the 2002 runner-up, advanced when Nicolas Massu retired trailing 6-2 3-0. The Chilean came into the match with a sprained left ankle. On remote court 17, No. 24 James Blake lost to big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4. The match was concluded yesterday after being suspended the previous night at the start of the fourth set because of darkness.
Todd Martin lost to No. 25 Tim Henman 7-6 (7/5) 5-7 6-1 7-5. That left just two American men advancing to the third round -- Andre Agassi and Vince Spadea.
France's top player and No. 14th-seed, Sebastien Grosjean, was upset by Fernando Vicente 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 6-3.
No. 30 Jarkko Nieminen outlasted Julien Varlet 1-6 1-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-4. It was the first time the Finn has won after losing the first two sets.
Also advancing were No. 12 Sjeng Schalken, No. 19 Fernando Gonzalez, No. 20 Felix Mantilla, No. 21 Gaston Gaudio, No.28 Tommy Robredo and No.32 Arnaud Clement. Schalken swept Fabrice Santoro 6-1 6-3 6-4. Gonzalez eliminated Albert Portas 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2.
Mantilla pulled away from Federico Browne 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-1. Gaudio beat Olivier Mutis 6-2 1-6 6-2 6-2.
Robredo swept Jonas Bjorkman 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 6-4. Frenchman clement defeated Lars Burgsmuller 6-3 6-3 6-3.
On the women's side, No. 24 Conchita Martinez reached the third round at Roland Garros for the 15th time by beating Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-5 6-2.
No. 15 Magdalena Maleeva eliminated Evgenia Koulikovskaya 6-3 6-2. American Corina Morariu, playing her first tournament since being sidelined late last year by a torn rotator cuff, lost to No. 30-seeded Paola Suarez 6-1 6-1.
Bureau Report