Tennis-Vaidisova and Jankovic show no mercy in the sun

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Her tears now a distant memory, Nicole Vaidisova lifted dampened spirits with her photogenic smile as she strutted into the second round of the French Open on Tuesday.

After persistent drizzle had washed away all but 14 matches on the opening two days of the claycourt grand slam, the rare glimpse of the sun brought out the ruthless streak in sixth seed Vaidisova and Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic.

Playing opponents who had not won a single tour match all year, Vaidisova picked apart Emmanuelle Gagliardi's fragile hopes 6-4 6-3 and Jankovic was merciless in a 6-2 6-2 defeat of France's Stephanie Foretz.

Twelve months after she capitulated from a winning position in the semi-finals against Svetlana Kuznetsova and ran off court an emotional wreck, the 18-year-old Vaidisova displayed her more mature character.

Despite failing to take advantage of five break points in the second game of the match which lasted a tortured 16 minutes, she kept her focus on Centre Court.

After two more break points went begging during the 47-minute first set, she converted the eighth to take the set thanks to an erring forehand from her Swiss opponent.

The second set was more straightforward, although the German-born Czech squandered her first two match points with a wild backhand followed up by an equally erratic forehand.

It was left to Gagliardi to produce a mistake to hand Vaidisova a place in the second round after 97 minutes.

Jankovic had stepped on an adjoining court at almost the same time as Vaidisova but the Serbian, who is one of the front-runners for the crown after winning two trophies in the run up to Roland Garros, scurried back into the dressing room almost 20 minutes sooner than her Czech rival.

Despite the crowd doing their best to lift Foretz, the Frenchwoman was clearly out of her depth and held serve just once in each set before surrendering meekly.

The battle for the men's crown will begin in earnest later on Tuesday as the two main protagonists, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, begin their charge to the final.

Federer, left in limbo on Monday thanks to the deluge over Roland Garros, will aim to convert his 6-4 4-1 lead into victory while Nadal's pursuit of a hat-trick of titles will begin against Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro.

Keywords: TENNIS OPEN/

[PARIS/Reuters/Finance.cz]