Tsonga leads French parade after Azarenka’s noisy start

A cacophony of noise on Philippe Chatrier Court signalled the belated appearance of Victoria Azarenka at Roland Garros yesterday before a parade of home players threatened to turn the French Open into a purely domestic affair.

Fourteen French players were in singles action on another chilly day in the capital with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the sixth seed, leading the charge with a 7-6 6-4 6-3 victory against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen to reach the third round.

Wildcard Gael Monfils then upstaged him for the second time so far this tournament, following up his thrilling first-round defeat of fifth seed Tomas Berdych to beat Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(4) 6-2 on Chatrier.

Men’s second seed Roger Federer, looking to win his second title in Paris after triumphing in 2009, cruised past Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman 6-2 6-1 6-1.

Azarenka, who had to wait until day four to play her first-round match against Russia’s Elena Vesnina because of Tuesday’s rain, found her clay feet with a 6-1 6-4 victory.

The stadium was barely one-third full as Azarenka went through her paces but the low decibel level from the seats was offset by the grunts, howls and groans from the two players.

Azarenka just about won the noise battle, although Vesnina ran her close, and the Belarussian had little trouble winning the match either.

Tsonga is regarded as France’s best hope of a first men’s grand-slam champion since 1983 when Yannick Noah captured the hearts of the public at Roland Garros by beating Mats Wilander.

He took a while to loosen up against the steady Nieminen who got the first break of serve and had to save a set point before overpowering his opponent with some impressive tennis.

The 28-year-old Tsonga, the last Frenchman to reach a major final in Australia in 2008, said he was happy to be carrying the flag for the sizeable home contingent.

“It’s positive pressure because I have everything to win and I would say nothing to lose,” Tsonga told reporters.

“If I go far in this tournament or if I win, it’s going to be something huge.”

Asked to summarise his performance, he said: “I played some ‘pie in the sky’ shots that I am not necessarily accustomed to doing, but I did. I could have produced a better copy book.”

There were mixed results for Tsonga’s compatriots.

Local wildcard Aravane Rezai offered a bold challenge to Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova but fell short, losing 6-3 4-6 6-2 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic had too much power for Michael Llodra, winning 7-5 3-6 7-6 (3) 6-2 to reach round three.

Gilles Simon, seeded 15, struggled to impose himself against Pablo Cuevas, of Uruguay, but hit form to win 6-7 (2) 6-1 6-1 6-1.

Fourth seed David Ferrer took his place in the third round almost unnoticed after thrashing fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2 6-1 6-3 on an outside court.

Other results: Errani bt Putintseva 6-1 6-1; Serena Williams bt Garcia 6-1 6-2; Jovanovski bt Wozniacki 7-6 6-3.