Federer into round three

Roger Federer recovered from a first-set wobble to cruise into the third round of the French Open with after a rain-hit victory over Alejandro Falla.

Defending champion Federer made an error-strewn start to his second outing of this year's tournament, giving his opponent a chance to serve for the first set.

But he survived the scare before shrugging off two rain disruptions to win 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-4 on Philippe Chatrier Court and set up a clash with Olivier Rochus or Julian Reister.

Federer had beaten Colombian Falla in straight sets in both of their previous meetings but was almost made to pay for a poor first set on Wednesday, which saw the world number one 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 let 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 play continued until after game three, which saw Federer break.

A 20-minute delay followed, after which Federer broke to love, held after falling 0-40 down, before eventually serving it out.

Play was suspended again for an hour in game two of the third set following an even heavier downpour.

Federer returned with renewed vigour to break in game three and almost did the same four games later but Falla held that and his next service game, forcing the Swiss to serve it out.