French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Date: 23 May-6 June
Coverage: Live video streamed from 1000 BST on BBC Sport website (UK only) and BBC red button; commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra; also live on Eurosport; text commentary on BBC Sport website Details of BBC coverage

Federer (right) shows his appreciation of Falla's dogged performance

Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start and two rain delays to reach round three of the French Open with victory over Colombia's Alejandro Falla.

Falla was a break up and serving for the first set at 6-5 but defending champion Federer hit back and raised his game to win 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-4.

The 2009 runner-up Robin Soderling and eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won.

But Gael Monfils saved three match points as his tie with Fabio Fognini ended in darkness at 5-5 in the fifth.

There were near farcical scenes on Court Philippe Chatrier as with barely any light left and the local nearing 10pm, play continued in the final match being played anywhere in the grounds.

The 13th seed Monfils had won the first two sets 6-2 6-4 to the delight of the home fans but the unseeded Italian had levelled the match by taking the next two 7-5 6-4.

Fognini asked the umpire to stop the contest at 4-4 in the decider and was given a penalty point for his reluctance to continue.

Monfils wanted to carry on and got his way - although it nearly cost him the match.

Fognini had three match points on the Monfils serve but failed to take any of them and the Frenchman survived that scare and what looked like an attack of cramp to stay alive in the match.

Gael Monfils prepares to serve in the darkness on Court Philippe Chatrier

The tie will continue as the second match on the same court on Thursday.

Federer had beaten Falla in straight sets in both of their previous meetings but was almost made to pay for a poor first set, which saw the top seed make a remarkable 21 unforced errors.

The 28-year-old's usually-impeccable forehand was malfunctioning badly and he survived break points in games three and five before more mistakes and a net cord saw him hand Falla a chance to serve for the set at 6-5.

But the 26-year-old world number 70 crumbled as Federer upped his game to level and set up a tie-break.

Federer claimed the first mini-break, netted another forehand to let Falla off the hook, but then won four points in a row to take the set.

Rain began to fall at the start of the second set, but there was still time for Federer to break before play was suspended for 20 minutes - and when it resumed he secured the double break.

After more downpours forced the players off for an hour in game two of the third set, Federer returned with renewed vigour to break in game three and serve out the match after some dogged resistance from Falla.

606: DEBATE Should the Monfils match have been allowed to continue?

However the top seed refused to become upset about the delays, saying: "It would be great to have a roof. But this is how this game has been played for decades.

"We're used to walking on and off the court and being flexible about these kind of things. It looks a bit like Paris and the French Open is a bit under pressure because Wimbledon and obviously the Australian Open both have roofs."

Next up for Federer is Julian Reister after he beat Olivier Rochus.

Elswhere, fifth seed Soderling was in action for only one hour 11 minutes in his 6-0 6-1 6-1 crushing of the hapless Taylor Dent and, in a match that lasted only eight minutes longer, Tsonga thrashed fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 6-0 6-1 6-4 .

Soderling, who also dropped just five games in his first-round win against French wildcard Laurent Recouderc, admitted he could not recall playing a three-set match that finished so quickly.

"Maybe I did, but I don't remember," said the Swede, who will play Albert Montanes in round three after the 29th seed waltzed past Tobias Kamke 6-3 6-2 6-1.

Soderling hopes the manner of his victories bodes well for another run deep into the tournament.

"What matters is that I won two matches and I'm in the third round," said the 25-year-old, who reached his maiden Grand Slam final last year after becoming the first man to beat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

"And I will always get a new chance to play better and better for every match. Of course, I'm feeling good. I won two matches pretty easily in straight sets, and I didn't have to run for many hours on court so far, so I feel fresh and prepared for the next round."

I'm feeling good. I won two matches pretty easily in straight sets, and I didn't have to run for many hours on court, so I feel fresh and prepared for the next round Robin Soderling

Tsonga's win could hardly have been in greater contrast to Sunday's epic five-set first-round success against Daniel Brands.

The Frenchman used his post-match press conference to criticise tournament organisers for rejecting his pleas to play his first round match on Monday or Tuesday instead of Sunday.

"Today we're in France, I'm French, I'm French number one," he said. "I would have thought it was legitimate for me to be listened to, that I would be given a choice. They should listen to me when I wanted to play or start.

Tsonga will face Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands next after he knocked out number 32 seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in four sets.

Many have tipped Croatian 10th seed Marin Cilic as a dark horse for the title and he enjoyed a straight-sets win against Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Meanwhile, 11th seed Mikhail Youzhny came from a set down to beat Lukas Lacko 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-3 6-2 and number 15 seed Tomas Berdych saw off Edouard Roger-Vasselin in straight sets.

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