Federer, Nadal staying steady

French open 2008

Top seeds Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal surprassed their respective second round matches in a clean fashion.

Federer’s opponent, 60th-ranked Albert Montanes of Spain, staked himself to a one-set lead—and then was overwhelmed the rest of the way in a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 victory for the owner of 12 Grand Slam titles.


Nadal’s opponent, 148th-ranked Nicolas Devilder of France, was one point from serving for the first set, holding a break point at 4-all—and then was completely overwhelmed the rest of the way in a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory for the owner of the past three French Open titles.

“His forehand was not a big problem for me to start with. And I thought, ‘Why not? Why not?”’ Devilder said.

And then?

“The games go by so quickly,” he said. “They go by so quickly, and you think: ‘When is it going to end?”’

Nadal improved to 23-0 at Roland Garros and said he’s “improving with each match.”

Nalbandian losses

Unlike Blake, Nalbandian has had success at the French Open, twice reaching the semifinals, but the Argentine wasted a two-set lead—and four break points in the opening game of the third set—and was eliminated 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 by Jeremy Chardy of France.

“The best match I’ve ever played,” said Chardy, a wild-card entry who had won only two tour-level matches in his career before this tournament—and now has doubled that total.