GASQUET, MONFILS ADVANCE IN STRAIGHT SETS

Richard Gasquet admits to surprising even himself at having won through to the third round without the loss of a set, given he has missed the entire clay-court season leading up to his home Grand Slam event.

The French 12^th  seed has battled a back injury and is still working his way back to full strength but regrouped after letting a 4-2 first-set lead slip to down free-swinging Argentine Carlos Berlocq 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 on Philippe Chatrier Court.

 Under the new joint-coaching guidance of former players Sebastien Grosjean and Sergi Bruguera, Gasquet now stand one win from equaling his best result at Roland Garros.

“Obviously playing here just carries you. It's the second time this year, and I have some experience. And with the crowd supporting you, it's great. It was packed today. It helped me find a second stamina,” Gasquet said. “I have been playing for 10 years, I have gathered experience, and when you're injured for two months, it's huge already. It's awesome to be in the third round.”

Later on Suzanne Lenglen Court, Gasquet’s countryman, 23 ^rd  seed  Gael Monfils  continued the strong run for the home hopes on the main courts; the Frenchman easing past German Jan-Lennard Struff after a tense first set, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1 to secure a third round match-up with 14 ^th  seed Fabio Fognini. The Italian earlier accounted for Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(2).

Spanish 24th seed Fernando Verdasco  rallied back from two sets down to push past Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 4-6, 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in a four-hour struggle on Court 2. The Spaniard finished with 63 winners and will meet Gasquet in the third round.

Huge-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic  ensured his best finish at Roland Garros, backing up his upset of 11^th  seed Grigor Dimitrov with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Austrian Andreas Hairder-Maurer, while Spaniard Guillermo Garciz-Lopez  backed up his seeded slaying of No.3 Stan Wawrinka with a four-set triumph over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

German 28^th  seed Philipp Kohlschreiber  progressed to a third-round showdown with seventh seed Andy Murray after a comprehensive 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin.

Italian 32^nd  seed Andreas Seppi  will meet Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer in the third round after breezing past Argentine Juan Monaco 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, while Monaco’s countryman Leonardo Mayer  took out Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Donald Young  upset Spanish 26^th  seed Feliciano Lopez in the battle of the lefties, 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-3, with Jack Sock  later ensuring there would be three American men in the third round after winning an all-U.S. affair with Steve Johnson 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.

South African 19^th  seed Kevin Anderson  made short work of French wildcard Axel Michon 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, while a new Serbian name on the block, Dusan Lajovic  made it to his first Grand Slam third round with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 result against Estonian Jurgen Zopp.