Federer, Wawrinka advance in Paris

Paris, France (SportsNetwork.com) - Swiss stars Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka won second-round matches Wednesday at the French Open.

Federer, this year's second seed and the 2009 champion, earned a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 triumph over spirited Spaniard Spain's Marcel Granollers, while the eighth-seeded Wawrinka notched a 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Serbia's Dusan Lajovic.

There wasn't much drama for Federer, although he did have to battle back from a deficit in the second set. Granollers broke serve for a 4-2 lead, but Federer broke right back and dominated the eventual tiebreak.

"I think I was actually playing very well," said Federer. "I wasn't nervous really. I think things went well for me for the first couple of sets. I think I was in control. Even though I was down a break in the second set, I still felt the match was in my racquet. And when you feel that way, obviously you're always going to feel more confident, more comfortable, not nervous."

Federer is also a four-time French Open runner-up to Rafael Nadal.

Next up for the 17-time Grand Slam champion from Switzerland will be Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur, who knocked out Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in four sets, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

The former Australian Open champion Wawrinka recovered from a minor hiccup in the third set and squandered three match points in the fourth before finally finishing off Lajovic with a break of serve. He will next face surprising American Steve Johnson, who followed his upset of Spain's Guillermo Garcia- Lopez in the first round with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) come-from- behind win over Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky on Wednesday.

Fourth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych doused fellow Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 6-3, while Japan's Kei Nishikori moved on in straight sets, as the fifth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up eased past Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Bellucci was coming off a title last week at the French Open tune-up in Geneva.

Up next for Berdych will be France's Benoit Paire, while Nishikori will face German Benjamin Becker.

Twelfth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon eased into the round of 32 by tackling Slovak Martin Klizan 7-5, 6-2, 6-3, while 13th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils outlasted game Argentine Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and 14th-seeded French star and former Aussie Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga crushed Israeli Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, Czech slugger Lukas Rosol took out 19th-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-2, 6-2; 21st-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay knocked out last week's Nice champion Dominic Thiem of Austria 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5; Frenchman Nicolas Mahut erased 24th-seeded Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; Paire upended 28th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-3, 7-5; and a mild upset came when Becker outlasted 32nd-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 0-6, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8.

Also in the second round, Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili leveled Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and 22nd-seeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber was leading Spaniard Pablo Andujar 1-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3, 4-2 when play was suspended because of darkness.

And 29th-seeded Aussie Nick Kyrgios reached the third round via walkover when Britain's Kyle Edmund pulled out of the draw. Their match was supposed to be part of Thursday's schedule.

The first round concluded Wednesday when Luxembourg's Gilles Muller outlasted Italian Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in a match that was suspended because of darkness after four sets here on Tuesday. Muller is rewarded with a second-round match against top-seeded two-time French Open runner-up Novak Djokovic on Thursday.

The eight-time major champion Djokovic still needs a French Open title to complete the career Grand Slam. He currently holds the Aussie Open and Wimbledon crowns.

Djokovic lost to Nadal in two of the last three French Open finals, including last year.

Also on Thursday, third-seeded Aussie Open runner-up Andy Murray will face Portuguese Joao Sousa and the sixth-seeded former No. 1 Nadal will encounter fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in the round of 64. Sousa was a clay-court runner-up in Geneva last week.

The two-time Grand Slam champion Murray is a perfect 11-0 on clay this year. The 14-time major titlist Nadal is a nine-time French Open champ, including five straight wins in Paris from 2010-14.

Also on the Day-5 schedule will be seventh-seeded former Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer, ninth-seeded U.S. Open champ Marin Cilic and 16th-seeded towering American John Isner.