French Open: Devvarman is fodder for Roger Federer

ROGER Federer was in no mood to hang around as he moved into the third round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 demolition of India’s Somdev Devvarman, but his title credentials were barely put to the test in a hopelessly one-sided match.

Roger Federer: Demolition job. Picture: AP

Federer, chasing a second French Open title, was never put under pressure and ruthlessly exploited his opponent’s frailties. The Swiss did not lose a point against the 188th-ranked qualifier until the third game and took the first set in just 
23 minutes with two breaks of serve. The 17-times grand slam winner broke a further three times in both the second and third sets as Devvarman wilted.

France’s Gael Monfils was the toast of Roland Garros as he followed up his upset of Tomas Berdych with a brilliant victory over Ernests Gulbis. With his rubber-like limbs propelling him to amazing court coverage and the crowd-pleasing skills of a jester, it is easy to see why the Parisians, and many others, love Monfils.

The 26-year-old, whose current ranking of 81 is largely down to knee problems that forced him to miss a large chunk of last season, produced the match of the men’s singles so far with his five-set win over Berdych. Yesterday’s clash was not far behind it, although Gulbis lost heart in the fourth set as Monfils clinched a 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 victory after three hours and 15 minutes.

Next up for the Frenchman is 32nd seed Tommy Robredo, who fought back from two sets down to defeat Dutchman Igor Sijsling. Fourth seed David Ferrer and French favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were both straight-sets winners as they advanced to the third round.Ferrer, elevated into the top four seeds by Andy Murray’s withdrawal, beat Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 while Tsonga had a tougher time against Finn Jarkko Nieminen but is safely through along with Nicolas Almagro, Gilles Simon and Marin Cilic after winning 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3.