Wildcard Ascione proves no match for Federer

PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) World number one Roger Federer today rolled into the third round of the French Open with a 6-1 6-2 7-6 defeat of wildcard Thierry Ascione.

After another day of gloomy skies and intermittent drizzle at Roland Garros, the Swiss top seed only got on court after 1900 local time and was clearly in a hurry to get the job done.

Ascione, ranked 168th in the world, had reached the second round of his home grand slam for the first time in five attempts but he was simply outclassed in the opening two sets as Federer unleashed his full repertoire of strokes.

Things got a little more complicated for the top seed in the third set, however, as Frenchman Ascione provided some stubborn resistance to prolong the contest.

Federer squandered two match points at 5-4 in the third set as he was broken for the first time and he saw another three go begging in the tiebreak as Ascione played some inspired winners to come back from 6-3 down.

Last year's runner-up then had to save two set points before clinching victory at the sixth attempt in one hour 51 minutes.

REUTERS SBA BST0111