Federer, Stosur enjoy stroll in the sun

Thursday, 26 May 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

(Reuters) - Title hopefuls Roger Federer and Samantha Stosur barely broke sweat as they sauntered into the third round of a sunsoaked French Open on Wednesday.

World number three Federer thrashed French wildcard Maxime Teixeira 6-3 6-0 6-2 in an 84-minute morning jog as dozens of panamas bloomed in the Court Suzanne Lenglen stands.

Swiss Federer, who has not won a grand slam title since the 2010 Australian Open, misfired a few routine forehands in the opening set before he revved up the engine to flatten world number 181 Teixeira.

Federer, a 16-times grand slam champion who will next face Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic, offered some words of consolation to his unheralded opponent.

“It is so hard to play on a big court when you’re not used to it. I think Max did a good match. He fought well,” the Swiss said courtside.

The 22-year-old Teixeira, who had never played a match on the main Tour before this year’s French Open, said: “It’s an incredible experience. Playing against Roger is something I will never forget. I did what I could.”

Little-known Romanian Simona Halep will probably like to forget her Court One outing on a sunny Parisian morning against last year’s runner-up Stosur.

Stosur looked like she would be handing Halep the dreaded ‘double bagel’ for breakfast but in the end had to settle for a 6-0 6-2 win in 66 minutes.

On kids day at Roland Garros, the eighth-seeded Stosur was in no mood to fool around as her pace and kicked serve proved too much to handle for the world number 67, who bowed out when she mishit a crosscourt forehand.

World number one Caroline Wozniacki was coasting towards a routine win but her second-round opponent, Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, trapped her into a moonballing contest and set up three set points in the second set.

Dane Wozniacki, who has yet to claim a grand slam title, survived the test thanks to her powerful forehand and won 6-3 7-6.

The heat and a plucky opponent initially left 17th seed Julia Georges frazzled as she fell a set and 3-1 behind.

But the in-form German, who won the Stuttgart tournament and reached the last four in Madrid during the past few weeks, relied on her survival instincts to floor Czech Lucie Safarova 2-6 7-5 6-2.

Georges, however, did not let the win go to her head. Asked who she would pick as the tournament favourite, she quipped: “For sure not me.”