• French Open, Day Two

A milestone for Fed and Azarenka goes AWOL

Victoria Azarenka picked herself and her racket up to avoid an upset against Alberta Brianti © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Azarenka performs the great escape in Paris
  
• News: Djokovic starts strongly at Roland Garros
  
• News: Federer in cruise control in win over Kamke
  
• Features: No white flag for Azarenka in Paris
  
• News: Robson falls at first hurdle in Paris
  
• News: What They Said: Federer delighted to equal Connors' record
  
• Gallery: French Open, Day Two

ESPN will be providing extensive coverage of the French Open, with live scores, commentary and analysis and you can follow it all with our live scorecentre

Federer cruises past Kamke
Djokovic off to solid start
Azarenka's great escape
Robson falls at first hurdle

Day Two Gallery
What They Said

Catching up with Connors
It was not a particularly memorable match for Roger Federer as he eased past Tobias Kamke on Monday, but it marked the Swiss' 233rd victory at a grand slam, equalling the all-time record of Jimmy Connors. Providing he wins his second-round match, Federer will be the outright leader.

Federer's win was also his 48th consecutive victory against a German opponent - the last time the Swiss lost to a German was nearly ten years ago at Halle in 2002 - over a year before his first grand slam title.

Missing in action
Victoria Azarenka's remarkable comeback avoided a high-profile exit as the world No. 1 came from 0-4 down in the second set to claim a 6-7(6) 6-4 6-2 victory over world No. 105 Alberta Brianti. After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, Azarenka admitted she was not at the races. "It wasn't the clay that was bothering me today, I was just missing," she said. "You can sit and think up excuses but I try to not approach it that way. I like to think 'what can I do better?'." With 60 unforced errors, may we suggest making fewer mistakes, Vika?

Turning point
Serving at 0-4 down in the second set, Azarenka looked to be heading for a humiliating first-round exit, but a second-serve ace appeared to spur her into action as she raced through the next six games to snatch the set from Brianti's grasp.

Rusty by name
Has Lleyton Hewitt played his last match at Roland Garros? The 31-year-old Australian, playing after nearly four months away following foot surgery, bowed out with defeat to Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic. The former world No. 1, nicknamed Rusty, lived up to his nickname with 56 unforced errors.

Too tired to celebrate
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andrea Petkovic may be crowd favourites for their post-win dance celebrations, but Mikhail Kukushkin went to the other extreme after his five-set win over Ernests Gulbis. Having fended off the Latvian's spirited fightback, Kukushkin walked off the court without any hint of celebration or acknowledgement of the crowd. It's fair to say he had nothing left in the tank.

Cramping his style
If you thought Kukushkin had nothing left, spare a thought for Alex Bogomolov Jr, who was forced to throw in the towel on match point after an epic five-settle battle with Arnaud Clement lasting four hours and 20 minutes. Serving with the scores at 6-2 3-6 4-6 7-6(2) 5-4, Bogomolov couldn't even throw the ball in the air without cramping up.

A very lucky loser?
The name Sesil Karatantcheva may or may not ring any bells with you, but as a 15-year-old, the Kazakh upset Venus Williams en route to the quarter-finals back in 2005. Now 22, Karatantcheva was only given a place in the draw when Vera Zvonareva pulled out with a shoulder injury. But she made the most of her chance, hammering Timea Babos 6-1 6-0.

USA 2-0 Germany
USA are traditionally not particularly strong on clay, but Bethanie Mattek-Sands, perhaps best known for her wacky outfits, claimed the scalp of No. 12 seed Sabine Lisicki in straight sets after Lauren Davis thrashed No. 30 seed Mona Barthel. There are now 10 American women through to the second round - and Serena Williams hasn't even picked up her racket yet.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.