French Open 2019: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer progress into third round

11-time champion Nadal will next face former world No 7 David Goffin; Federer to meet 20-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud

Image: Rafael Nadal has only lost twice at Roland Garros in his career

Defending champion Rafael Nadal and former winner Roger Federer both eased into the French Open third round with dominant straight-sets victories on Wednesday.

Nadal, targeting a record-extending 12th title at Roland Garros, won 6-2 6-1 6-4 on Suzanne Lenglen to defeat world No 114 Yannick Maden - his second German qualifier this week.

Federer, champion in 2009, continued his comeback to Roland Garros with a 6-4 6-3 6-4 against German lucky loser Oscar Otte.

Nadal and world No 1 Novak Djokovic are the resounding favourites at the second Grand Slam of the year, and the Spaniard will next face 27th seed David Goffin.

Image: Nadal lost his serve twice in the third set but avoided losing his first set of the championship

"It was a good match for the first two sets," Nadal said. "Not unbelievable, but 6-1 6-2 with positive feelings.

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"Then in the third, being honest, I think I lost a little bit of concentration and intensity. And then all the match became difficult."

The 32-year-old, whose only title on clay this season came in Rome earlier this month, is yet to lose a set at this year's tournament, but was broken twice in the third set by the resolute Maden.

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Nadal broke Maden, who won his first Grand Slam match in the first round, twice in each of the first two sets as he raced into a commanding advantage.

Then in the third, being honest, I think I lost a little bit of concentration and intensity.
Rafael Nadal

There were four consecutive breaks of serve midway through the third set as Maden caused the Spaniard greater difficulty with some drop shot winners and his ability to trade from the baseline.

But Nadal regained his assertiveness to serve out for victory and claim his 88th victory from 90 matches at the clay court Grand Slam. Both of his defeats have come on Philippe Chatrier.

Federer, who is playing at the French Open for the first time since 2015, thrilled the crowd on Philippe Chatrier with an assured performance against the big-hitting Otte.

Image: Roger Federer made his French Open debut aged 17

Otte was competitive with the 20-time Grand Slam champion for large parts of the match, using his powerful serve to good effect, but Federer converted three of his four break points to secure a 6-4 6-3 6-4 victory.

Federer, seeded third, saved all four break points he faced and will next face Norwegian Casper Ruud, whose father Christian was in the draw when Federer made his Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros 20 years ago.

Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the third round at Roland Garros for the first time, overcoming an indifferent start to beat Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 4-6 6-0 6-3 7-5.

Image: Stefanos Tsitsipas won the Estoril Open title and reached the final in Rome in the build-up to the French Open

The 20-year-old Greek achieved his best performance at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, losing in the semi-finals.

Seventh seed Kei Nishikori recovered from losing the first set against France's two-time semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the last 32.

The match was a repeat of their quarter-final meeting in 2015, which Tsonga won, and Nishikori will next face Serbian 31st seed Laslo Djere, who beat Australian wildcard Alexei Popyrin 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.

French wildcard Corentin Moutet produced the biggest win of his burgeoning career in front of his home crowd to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time after a 6-3 6-1 2-6 7-5 win over 19th-seed Guido Pella of Argentina.

Moutet, 20, will next meet world No 78 Juan Ignacio Londero from Argentina after he defeated France's Richard Gasquet 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-4.

2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, chasing his first title since 2017, powered into the next round by defeating former Roland Garros junior champion Cristian Garin 6-1 6-4 6-0.

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