Williams outlasts weather, Laine in French Open win

Top-seeded Roger Federer was held up twice by rain, but still won easily.
PARIS (AP) -- So there was Venus Williams, on center court at the French Open on the final day of May, wearing a sweatshirt, her game as shaky as the weather was dismal.
Thanks to three rain delays totaling nearly two hours, Williams was forced to wait until after 8 p.m. to play her second-round match, and only a few hundred bundled-up spectators saw her fall behind 4-0 as the temperature dropped to 50 degrees.
Williams eventually turned things around in the fading light Wednesday night for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Emma Laine of Finland, a woman who's participated in fewer majors (three) than the American has won (five).
"It's nice to have moments of truth like that early on in the tournament," said Williams, seeded No. 11. "I was able to really kind of focus back in, pull in the reins and really realize what I needed to do."
The match was the perfect up-and-down conclusion to a day of stops and starts, when pretty much everyone complained about the Wimbledon-like weather -- even winners such as Roger Federer, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova.
Wins in straight sets
Federer's 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 win over Alejandro Falla was held up twice by showers, for about 11/2 hours combined; on-court action lasted a mere 86 minutes.
"It's not easy to come on and off" the court, Federer said. "You always hope your game is still there and it hasn't left you."
Fat chance for a player seeking to become the first man since 1969 to win four Grand Slam titles in a row. Federer finished with a 41-13 advantage in winners.
"I would like to win here," said Federer, a champion at every other major at least twice but never past the semifinals in Paris. "The pressure is quite big."
Sharapova advances
Sharapova didn't show any apparent signs of the right ankle injury that bothered her in the first round, and moved on 6-4, 6-1 over Iveta Benesova.
"I didn't feel like I was moving great still, being cautious with the tape on," Sharapova said, "but pain-wise it felt a lot better."
There was a near fight at the end of No. 12 Mario Ancic's win over Paul Capdeville. Ancic was bothered by the Chilean's repeated complaints to the chair umpire, including before the postmatch handshake, and he told Capdeville so. Capdeville thought Ancic lunged at him and responded by pushing Ancic, but it ended there.
"The chair umpire favored him all the way," Capdeville said. "I was just criticizing the chair umpire, so I don't understand why [Ancic] reacted this way."
Seven-hour match
The best in-match theater and biggest endurance test came out on Court 2, where No. 13 Nicolas Kiefer and French wild card Marc Gicquel began play at 11:10 a.m. -- and walked off the court seven hours later.
There was 4:50 of action, plus the repeated rain, before Kiefer converted his sixth match point to close a 6-0, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 11-9 victory. Both players' shirts were caked with red clay when Gicquel's lob landed barely long to end it.
"I prefer," Kiefer said, "to make it easier."
That was one of several matches of interest to French fans on the always-raucous first Wednesday of the tournament, when tickets are set aside for tennis clubs to bring children because schools have a half-day.
Mauresmo smiled at the high-pitched chants of "Ah-meh-lee!" that rang out during her 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over Vera Dushevina. At the other end of the complex, the crowd roared when No. 3 David Nalbandian of Argentina ended a 14-stroke exchange by pushing a forehand into the net against French teen Richard Gasquet. And that was only the first point of the match. Alas, Gasquet lost 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
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