Federer eases into second round at French Open

Roger Federer’s quest for a second French Open title started with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 first-round win against Colombian lucky loser Alejandro Falla.

The second-seeded Swiss, who has a record 17 grand slam titles to his name, barely broke sweat in his flashy pink shorts and lilac shirt as he booked a second-round meeting with either Spain’s Marcel Granollers or German qualifier Matthias Bachinger.

After misfiring a few backhands, Federer, who has not won a grand slam since Wimbledon in 2012, pocketed the opening set when Falla buried a backhand into the net.

Federer, who held serve throughout, broke twice in the second, and rounded it off on Falla’s serve when the Colombian failed to return a booming crosscourt forehand.

Compatriot Stan Wawrinka also eased through to the second round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over Turkey’s Marsel Ilhan.

Japanese fifth-seed Kei Nishikori avoided a first-round mishap against local favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu to advance with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win.

Nishikori, who won the claycourt Barcelona Open last month, struggled early on but he was eventually too quick for the world number 123.

Results (selected):

14-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat Christian Lindell (Sweden) 6-1 6-2 6-2

24-Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) beat Igor Sijsling (Netherlands) 6-4 6-4 7-6(3)

5-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) 6-3 7-5 6-1

Pablo Andujar (Spain) beat Albert Ramos (Spain) 6-2 6-4 7-6(3)

2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 6-3 6-3 6-4

8-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Marsel Ilhan (Turkey) 6-3 6-2 6-3

Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) beat Elias Ymer (Sweden) 6-2 7-6(7) 6-3

19-Roberto Bautista (Spain) beat Florian Mayer (Germany) 6-3 6-1 6-3

22-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) beat Go Soeda (Japan) 6-1 6-0 6-2