Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer advanced into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, as women’s title-holder Serena Williams was swept away on a wave of poor form.

Second seed Novak Djokovic and Switzerland’s Federer both remained in control against challenging opponents in their second-round contests, winning in commanding style.

Second-seed Djokovic hammered Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, while Federer, seeded fourth, beat grand slam debutant Diego Sebastian Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

But women’s top seed Williams had no answer to a 20-year-old Spaniard, as 35th-ranked Garbine Muguruza dumped her out 6-2, 6-2.

The shock result came two years after the world number one was beaten in the first round at Roland Garros.

The upset-marred tournament in Paris has seen first-round eliminations of both Australian Open champions from January as well, Stan Wawrinka and Li Na.

A subdued Williams said that nothing went right for her and blamed her serving for many of her problems.

“I don’t think anything worked for me today, I just can’t serve,” said the 32-year-old. “It was one of those days.

“You can’t be on every day, and, I hate to be off during a Grand Slam. It happens, it’s not the end of the world.” Williams was buried by nearly 30 unforced errors, losing serve five times against her 20-year-old opponent from Barcelona.

Federer and Djokovic set the pace for other seeds, with number six Tomas Berdych beating Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 and Canadian number eight Milos Raonic dispatching Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-1.

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 13th, beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Djokovic said that playing in the cold wind and with the threat of rain had posed a challenge.

“Conditions were changing from the beginning to the end, it was another match where I had to stay mentally tough and then try to be consistent and not have many ups and downs.

“I knew he was going to take his chances with the forehand, and his big serve. But I managed to make him play an extra shot and stayed solid from the baseline.” Federer was equally satisfied after his win, but stressed that a difficult opponent had made him work hard.

“I wish I could have played a bit more freely overall. But I think it was a solid match,” said the 17-time grand slam champion Swiss.

“That’s always the key to stay solid in your own service games. It’s just really important to moving along in the draw.” On the women’s side, 2012 winner Maria Sharapova overcame a slow start to beat Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5, 6-3, while German eighth seed Angelique Kerber overcame Varvara Lepchenko 6-2, 7-5.

There was a victory for Melbourne finalist Dominika Cibulkova, the number nine, as Tamira Paszek lost 6-3, 6-4.

Two seeds lost, with number 12 Flavia Pennetta losing 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to Johanna Larsson and Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, 16th, retiring due to injury against Mona Barthel 6-1, 3-0.

Related Topics