Roger Federer, the defending men's champion, overcame a sloppy first set and two rain breaks to reach the French Open third round yesterday with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4 win over Colombia's Alejandro Falla.
Federer, who is the top seed here, will tackle either Belgium's Olivier Rochus or German qualifier Julian Reister, the world 165 who had not won a match on the main tour until Roland Garros, for a place in the last 16.
Federer was not at his best in the first set and was broken in the 11th game by Falla, but the world No 1 hit back immediately to force a tie-break, which he won.
From then on he never looked back, and he said: "A player like Falla needed the first set to have a chance of winning.
"He had a good first set where I made too many errors, but he was pushing me at the start. I knew the danger, it was a very tight first set and I was a little lucky."
Stormy play interrupted play for much of the day, but other men's seeds to progress in straight sets were Robin Soderling, the fifth seed, and Marin Cilic, the No 10 seed, who beat Taylor Dent and Daniel Gimeno respectively.
In the women's draw Venus Williams, the world No 2, made easy progress to the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja.
France is the only grand slam that Williams, the runner-up to sister Serena in 2002, has yet to win.
She next plays Dominika Cibulkova, the Slovakian 26th seed, who made the semi-finals in 2009.
"She played very well last year," said Williams. "But I will just try to execute my game plan and not worry a ton about what my opponent is doing."
Cibulkova had to work to book her place in the last 32, coming from a set down to beat the American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Nadia Petrova, the two-time semi-finalist who is seeded 19th, beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-1, 6-2. Flavia Pennetta, the No 14, defeated Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1.
* Agencies
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
THE BIO
Ms Al Ameri likes the variety of her job, and the daily environmental challenges she is presented with.
Regular contact with wildlife is the most appealing part of her role at the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.
She loves to explore new destinations and lives by her motto of being a voice in the world, and not an echo.
She is the youngest of three children, and has a brother and sister.
Her favourite book, Moby Dick by Herman Melville helped inspire her towards a career exploring the natural world.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
more from Janine di Giovanni
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food