Top guns boom into third round

Bruguera, who struggled with an ankle injury last season and plummeted out of the top 20 for the first time since 1990, continued to enjoy a renaissance on the French clay, crushing Dennis van Scheppingen of the Netherlands 6-2 6-3 6-3.

“It’s easier here when you’re playing with confidence, it doesn’t matter whether you are the favourite or not,” said Bruguera, a finalist at Key Biscayne.

Sanchez Vicario, meanwhile, moved a step closer to her fourth consecutive appearance in the finals by demolishing Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-1.American Seles, who won the tournament three times in a row from 1990 to 1992, was not quite as impressive but nevertheless managed to beat France’s Sarah Pitkowski 6-3 7-5.

The French Open lost its most exotic attraction today as teenage American prodigy Venus Williams was sent tumbling back to earth after a crash course in the art of Grand Slam survival.

Williams, the 16-year-old raised in the tough Los Angeles district of Compton, stood on the threshold of a tantalising third round encounter with former world number one Monica Seles only to fade to a 5-7 6-3 7-5 defeat in an absorbing centre court battle with France’s Nathalie Tauziat.

Swiss 16-year-old Martina Hingis, who is two months older than Seles was when she won in Paris for the first time, survived a scare against Italian second round opponent Gloria Pizzichini.

The top seed flirted with her first defeat this year before winning 3-6 6-4 6-1 to set up a teenage third round showdown with 15-year-old Anna Kournikova of Russia.

Hingis was not the only seed to have a hard time. Spain’s Albert Costa, the 11th seed, was taken to five sets by little-known Andrei Pavel of Romania while his namesake Carlos Costa was dumped in straight sets by Czech Petr Korda, a finalist here in 1992.

The only seed to fall in either the men’s or women’s draw was Spain’s Felix Mantilla, the latest victim of Sweden’s Magnus Larsson.

Larsson, who dismissed former champion Jim Courier in the first round, beat the 10th seed 6-2 6-4 3-6 6-3 and could yet be a threat to second seed Chang who is in the same quarter of the draw.

How the seeds fared

Men’s singles (second round): 2-Michael Chang (US) bt Jerome Golmard (Fra) 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-2; 11-Albert Costa (Spa) bt Andrei Pavel (Rom) 6-1 4-6 0-6 6-3 6-4; 16-Sergi Bruguera (Spa) bt Dennis van Scheppingen (Neth) 6-2 6-3 6-3

Women’s singles (second round): 1-Martina Hingis (Swi) bt Gloria Pizzichini (Ita) 3-6 6-4 6-1;3-Monica Seles (US) bt Sarah Pitkowski (Fra) 6-3 7-5; 6-Arantxa Sanchez (Spa) bt Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-3 6-1; 10-Mary Pierce (Fra) bt Patricia Hy-Boulais (Can) 6-1 6-3; 12-Mary Joe Fernandez (US) bt Andrea Glass (Ger) 6-1 6-0

Other Second round results

Men’s singles: Magnus Norman (Swe) bt Leander Paes (Ind) 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-3; Petr Korda (Czech Rep) bt Carlos Costa (Spa) 6-3 7-5 6-4; Mark Woodforde (Aus) bt Alexander Volkov (Rus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5; Galo Blanco (Spa) bt Magnus Gustafsson (Swe) 6-4 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-1); Gustavo Kuerten (Bra) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) 6-4 6-2 4-6 7-5; Mark Philippoussis (Aus) bt Olivier DeLaitre (Fra) 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4

Women’s singles: Virginia Ruano-Pascual (Spa) bt Amelie Cocheteux (Fra) 6-4 6-2; Kimberly Po (US) bt Yuka Yoshida (Jpn) 6-3 6-0; 16-Barbara Paulus (Austria) bt Wang Shi-Ting (Tai) 6-2 6-2; Natasha Zvereva (Bls) bt Magalie Lamarre (Fra) 6-4 7-5; Nathalie Tauziat (Fra) bt Venus Williams (US) 5-7 6-3 7-5; Lisa Raymond (US) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) 6-1 6-1; Flora Perfetti (Ita) bt Lea Ghirardi-Rubbi (Fra) 6-4 6-1; Anna Kournikova (Rus) bt Sandra Cecchini (Ita) 6-2 6-1; Sandrine Testud (Fra) bt Catalina Cristea (Rom) 6-0 6-4; Silvia Farina (Ita) bt Petra Begerow (Ger) 6-4 6-2; Dominique van Roost (Bel) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Swi) 6-2 6-0.