Spanish fourth seed and 2012 semi-finalist David Ferrer made the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, beating compatriot Albert Montanes 6-2 6-1 6-3.
Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France’s best hope of a first men’s champion in Paris for 30 years, defeated Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-3.
Tsonga, a quarter-finalist last year when he squandered four match points against world No.1 Novak Djokovic, next faces compatriot Jeremy Chardy or Roberta Bautista Agut of Spain.
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 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 win over Frenchman Michael Llodra, while No.23 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa downed Russian Evgeny Donskoy 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 7-5 6-2.
Viktor Troicki of Serbia beat Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 and Feliciano Lopez of Spain accounted for Joao Sousa of Portugal 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Later on Wednesday, Roger Federer will bid to win his 56th career match at Roland Garros, just two behind the record held jointly by Guillermo Vilas and Nicola Pietrangeli.
Federer, the 2009 champion and bidding for an 18th major, tackles Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, the world No.188.
Second seed Federer beat Devvarman in their only previous meeting in straight sets in Dubai in 2011.