Tennis: Lisicki falters as Zvonareva fights back

Third seed Vera Zvonareva came back from match-point down to defeat ailing German Sabine Lisicki 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round of the French Open.

The Russian, who made the finals at Wimbledon and the US Open last year and reached the last four in Australia in January, was on the verge of defeat at 2-5 in the decider but she held on before breaking back in the next game.

Qualifier Lisicki, who was ranked in the top 25 in 2009 before injuries took their toll, then received treatment from the doctor for apparent exhaustion, but she could not recover and Zvonareva took the last five games to clinch victory.

The German collapsed to the clay in distress and had to be carried from Court 1 on a stretcher.

"I hope she feels okay," Zvonareva said about an hour after the match. "I heard she's feeling okay. She's seeing a doctor. It's part of the sport. No matter what, I had to keep doing my job. I kept fighting, and that's all."

Last year's finalists Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur cruised through to round three but world No.?1 Caroline Wozniacki needed almost two hours to grind out a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) victory over near namesake Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.

On the men's side of the event, Novak Djokovic made it 42 matches unbeaten in 2011 after his opponent, Victor Hanescu, retired injured at two sets down. The Serb will now face a mouth-watering round three clash with Juan Martin Del Potro, who saw off Blaz Kavcic in straight sets. Roger Federer was also in good form, defeating French wildcard Maxime Teixeira 6-3, 6-0, 6-1. David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made it into round three with easy wins.

In the men's doubles first round, Jamie Murray and his partner Chris Guccione defeated French duo Jeremy Chardy and Arnaud Clement 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.