Henin and Hewitt slip through but Henman exits

An edgy Justine Henin-Hardenne slithered into the French Open third round with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Belarussian Anastasiya Yakimova yesterday.

Men's seeds Lleyton Hewitt and Tommy Robredo also progressed but Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis was beaten in five sets before heavy rain caused two hours of play to be lost.

As a result the second round matches of Henin-Hardenne's fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters and 12th seed Martina Hingis were postponed until today.

On her 24th birthday, women's defending champion Henin-Hardenne was short of her best against 19-year-old Yakimova in steadily worsening weather.

The fifth seed took the first set comfortably enough but lost control of the second and the match looked set to go into a decider when Yakimova held three set points at 5-4.

However, Henin-Hardenne saved all three, the last with an audacious drop shot that left Yakimova sprawling in the mud.

The Belgian, who also won the claycourt grand slam in 2003, sealed victory two games later when Yakimova sent a wild forehand long as rain tumbled on to centre court.

"It's like November in Belgium. It's really amazing. I don't remember spending my birthday in weather like this," Henin-Hardenne said.

"It's difficult conditions for everybody. It's not pleasant even for the crowd. We're running around on the court, but I think in the stands they're freezing."

Demoralised Baghdatis

A demoralised Baghdatis lost 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-7 6-4 to France's Julien Benneteau.

The Cypriot, seeded 19, has suffered from injury and illness since losing to Roger Federer in Melbourne. He saved two match points in the fourth set before forcing a fifth but Benneteau, ranked 95, proved the stronger in the decider.

"It's been tough for me after Australia, a lot of questions in my head, a lot of doubts," Baghdatis said. "I'm thinking about what people think, what people will say. I don't feel at ease."

Men's 14th seed Lleyton Hewitt saved a set point before beating Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt 7-5 6-3 6-3.

The Australian showed little sign of his ankle problem and if the former world number one wins his third round match, he is in line to meet defending champion Rafael Nadal in round four.

"Coming in here a week ago I wasn't sure if I'd be able to play, so it's obviously good to be through to the third round," said Hewitt, twice a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros.

"I haven't wasted a lot of energy so far, got matches under my belt. We'll see what happens from here, though."

Another French loser was 21st seed Sebastien Grosjean, who led 2-1 in sets overnight against Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello but subsided in the rain yesterday.

"I couldn't play my tennis," said Grosjean. "Everything was heavy. It was difficult to find it pleasurable."

British involvement in the singles ended when Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who had led by two sets overnight, completed a 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory over Tim Henman. Henman, a surprise semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2004, lost to Tursunov at both Wimbledon last year and the Australian Open in January. Compatriots Andy Murray and Greg Rusedski both lost in the first round.

Russia's 2004 champion Anastasia Myskina eased past Hungary's Melinda Czink 6-2 6-4 to advance to the third round.

Other results: (men) Djokovic bt F. Gonzalez 6-4 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1; Haas bt Waske 6-4 7-5 6-7 6-4.