<!--enpproperty 2013-06-01 08:15:22.0Agencies in ParisNadal rides yet another Open rollercoasterNadal rides yet another Open rollercoaster1161358Sports2@cndy/enpproperty-->
Germany's Tommy Haas hits a return to Jack Sock of the US during their second-round match at the French Open on Friday. Haas won 7-6 (3), 6-2, 7-5. Thomas Coex / Agence France-Presse
Spanish star struggles again early in second-round clash
Rafael Nadal came from behind for the second match in a row on Friday at the French Open, surviving another shaky start to beat Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Entering the tournament, the seven-time champion had lost only 14 sets in 53 matches at the French Open. Now he has lost the opening set in each of the first two rounds.
Last year, Nadal dropped one set in the entire tournament en route to a record seventh Roland Garros title.
Forced to wait a day to play because of rain, Nadal lost serve four times and needed nearly three hours to reach the third round. When Klizan's final shot sailed out, Nadal gave the cheering crowd a relieved thumbs-up and managed a weak smile.
"I started a bit too defensive," he said. "I improved a little bit during the match."
Nadal also lost the first set of his opening match against Daniel Brands and was down 3-love in the second-set tiebreaker before he rallied.
The Spaniard, now 54-1 at the French Open, is seeking to become first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam event. Since returning in February from a seven-month layoff because of knee trouble, he's 38-2, reaching the finals at all eight tournaments he has entered and winning six.
Nadal won his 17th match in a row, but it's clear another Roland Garros title won't come easily. Because of rain delays, he must win six matches in the final 10 days of the tournament to reclaim the trophy.
With an 11 am start on another chilly, damp day in Paris, fans were late arriving at Court Suzanne Lenglen, and it took Nadal a while to get going, too.
The match was his first against the left-handed Klizan, which may have been a factor, and the slender Slovak's aggressive strokes from the baseline quickly made an impression.
"Wow," Nadal exclaimed after one winner by Klizan whizzed past.
Nadal's shots lacked their usual depth and sting at the outset, and he pushed a forehand wide at the end of a long rally to lose serve for the first time.
Klizan served out the set before Nadal gained a foothold, racing to a 4-love lead in the second set.
Nadal swept the final eight points of the third set to take command. His groundstrokes started landing beyond the service line more consistently, and dogged defense helped bail him out.
Meanwhile, French seventh seed Richard Gasquet reached the third round for the third successive year with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 win over Polish qualifer Michal Przysiezny, the world No 133.
Gasquet will face face Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko, a semifinalist in 2005 and 2007, for a last-16 place.
Davydenko, 31, and a former world No 3, defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
"I'm ready for this third round," said Gasquet. "It's not going to be an easy match."
German 12th seed Tommy Haas ended the run of American qualifier Jack Sock, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 7-5.
Haas, playing in his 52nd Grand Slam event, is the first 35-year-old to reach the third round in Paris since Jonas Bjorkman in 2007.
Haas will face another American in the fourth round , John Isner.
Poland's Jerzy Janowicz, the 21st seed, went into the third round with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Robin Haase.
Russian 29th seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Argentina's Federico Del Bonis 6-3, 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4 and No 4 seed David Ferrer of Spain accounted for compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
On the women's side, defending champion Maria Sharapova showed no mercy to Nike stablemate Eugenie Bouchard, swatting aside the Canadian teenager 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last 32.
In a second-round match held over from Thursday evening due to rain with the Russian second seed up a set and 4-2, it took just four more games for her to complete the task, sealing the win when her opponent hit long under pressure.
"It was such a long day yesterday and it is always difficult to come back out, so it was important to get off to a good start and I am just happy to finish the match today," she said.
It was a lesson in big-time tennis for the promising 19-year-old from Quebec, who won the Wimbledon girls singles title last year and was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.
Sharapova, a teenage sensation herself when she won the 2004 Wimbledon title at the age of 17, will go on to play China's Zheng Jie who eased past Melanie Oudin of the US 6-3, 6-1.
She is now on a nine-match winning streak at Roland Garros having completed her collection of Grand Slam titles in Paris last year, the seventh woman in the Open era to achieve that feat.
The Russian has been a model of consistency on tour this year, winning tournaments at Indian Wells and Stuttgart, but she has lost heavily to top seed Serena Williams at Doha, Miami and Madrid.
(China Daily 06/01/2013 page16)