Federer advances to third round

World number one Roger Federer ousted Germany's Nicolas Kiefer in straight sets to book his place in the third round of the French Open.

Although not playing his best tennis, the Wimbledon champion defeated his opponent 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in two hours and 31 minutes.

"I am very happy to have reached the third round again," said the Swiss star, who bowed out at the first round stage in 2002 and 2003 in Paris.

"This tournament is very special for me. It is true that I did not play my best tennis but I won and that's the most important thing."

In the other matches the 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, seeded 12th, defeated Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-2 in two hours and 44 minutes to progress to the third round.

In the women's event, 2000 champion Mary Pierce reached the third round with a 6-1 6-1 win against Spain's Gala Leon Garcia in just 49 minutes.

Seventh seed Jennifer Capriati, the 2001 champion, had no trouble booking her place in the last 32 as she cruised past Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic 7-5 6-3.

Afterwards, the American said: "I think the quality of match was better in my first round than in this one.

"But it doesn't matter, I did what I had to do to basically win the match."

Fourth seed Venus Williams recovered from a slow start to beat Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-3 6-3.

The American was in erratic form, losing the first three games, but improved to seal victory in one hour, 21 minutes.

The former world number one struggled with her serve, but though Kostanic, ranked 39th, matched her for long periods, Williams's greater power and experience proved decisive.

Williams next takes on former Pierce of France for a place in the last 16.