‘Aggressive’ Tursunov stops Federer playing freely

Roger Federer on his way to a straightsets victory over Argentine Sebastian Schwartzman. Picture: Getty

The 17-times grand slam champion, was kept under pressure throughout by the world No 109, who never gave up and even broke serve in the first set.

“I’ve always felt he had a little bit of an upper hand from the baseline. I feel he was doing a really good job being aggressive and making good plays,” said Federer,  who next faces Russian Dmitry Tursunov. “I wish I could have played a bit more freely today overall. But then again, I think it was a solid match.”

Federer admitted he had never seen his opponent before stepping on to court Suzanne Lenglen, but it will be another story against Tursunov. He has a 4-0 record against the Russian but the two have never played on clay. Their last meeting was in the third round at Indian Wells, with Federer needing two tiebreaks to go through.

Novak Djokovic eased into the third round with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The clay court showpiece is the only grand slam to have eluded Djokovic so far in his career but he looked in ferocious form as he blew away Chardy in just an hour and 31 minutes.

Afterwards, Djokovic offered his vews on the additional pressure Stan Wawrinka, a first-round loser in Paris, if facing after winning the Australian Open.

Djokovic said: “I can say from my side I always have high ambitions for myself in terms of results and in terms of goals. But with that there is a lot of responsibility, a lot of hard work, a lot of understanding on and off the court, what you need to do and what you need to become in order to have the chance to be successful. So I understand what Wawrinka is going through. When I won my first grand slam in 2008, I know how that period went after that. It’s the first time that you have to encounter pressure or expectations of being a favourite at grand slams.

“I think it’s a new experience, and it’s something that is going to be with him for the rest of his career, because he’s a grand slam winner now, so he’s going to be favourite in most of the events where he plays.”