2009 champion Roger Federer raced into the third round at the French Open on Wednesday with a 6-2 6-1 6-1 thrashing of India’s Somdev Devvarman.
Federer, with a record 17 grand slam titles, bagged his 56th win on the Roland Garros clay to stand just two behind the record of Guillermo Vilas and Nicola Pietrangeli.
He next faces Julien Benneteau of France – a five-set winner over Germany’s Tobias Kamke.
“It’s great that all the work is paying off and I hope to keep experiencing this as long as possible,” said Federer, competing in his 54th straight grand slam.
Spanish fourth seed and 2012 semi-finalist David Ferrer made the third round beating compatriot Albert Montanes 6-2 6-1 6-3.
“I was feeling really good. We had long rallies and I’m very, very satisfied because I think I played very good tennis,” said Ferrer.
Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils served up a centre court double treat to keep home hopes alive of a first men’s champion in 30 years.
Tsonga, a quarter-finalist last year when he squandered four match points against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, defeated Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-3. He next faces compatriot Jeremy Chardy.
“I’m French, it’s in France and, of course, there may be a bit more pressure but, for me, it’s positive,” said Tsonga.
Wildcard Monfils, a semi-finalist in 2008, won a thrilling contest against in-form but unpredictable Latvian Ernests Gulbis, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 and next takes on Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo.
Monfils was playing his 12th match in 17 days after reaching the final in Nice last weekend.
“I don’t think about fatigue. I just hope to be ready for my next match.”
Croatian 10th seed Marin Cilic ended the hopes of Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios, the world No.262, by winning 6-4 6-2 6-2.
Following his superb first-round straight-sets upset over Czech Radek Stepanek, Kyrgios unsurprisingly found the going much tougher as he fell to Cilic in the biggest match of his fledgling career.
Still, the 18-year-old – the youngest man in the singles draw – gave another good account of himself and will be sure to benefit from his first taste of the top level.
The world’s top-ranked junior had only earned a late wildcard call-up after injury forced compatriot John Millman to withdraw.
In other second-round action, 14th-seed Canadian Milos Raonic advanced with a four-set win over Frenchman Michael Llodra, while No.23 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa downed Russian Evgeny Donskoy, also in four.
No.15 Gilles Simon of France beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas in four sets, 18th-seeded American Sam Querrey defeated Czech Jan Hajek in straight sets and No.20 Andreas Seppi of Italy knocked out Slovenia’s Blaz Kavcic in five.
Viktor Troicki of Serbia beat Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver in five sets and Feliciano Lopez of Spain accounted for Joao Sousa of Portugal in four.