Belgium's Kim Clijsters, the 14th seed, reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Slovakia's Ludmila Cervanova and next meets Slovakian 20th seed Daniela Hantuchova.
Elsewhere in the men's event, defending champion Gaston Gaudio, seeded No. 5, reached the third round without hitting a ball when scheduled opponent Dmitry Tursunov of Russia withdrew with a knee injury.
Argentinian David Nalbandian, the 10th seed and a semifinalist last year, brushed past Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
Henin-Hardenne is back
Justine Henin-Hardenne confirmed her status as a French Open favorite yesterday when she cruised into the third round and buried the misery of her appearance at Roland Garros last year.
Twelve months ago the Belgian arrived in the French capital as defending champion but having not played for six weeks after being struck down by an energy-sapping virus.
Her lack of sharpness was exposed as she was dumped out at the second-round stage by unheralded Italian Tathiana Garbin, becoming the first top seed in the history of the women's event to lose so early.
After her 6-1, 6-4 win over 31-year-old Virginia Ruano Pascual yesterday, which set up a third-round clash with another Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 22-year-old Belgian admitted she was struggling this year with a back injury.
"I have had a back problem for about two months now and it's something I have to deal with," said Henin-Hardenne, who called the trainer onto the court during the match.
"On clay courts, you have to be at your best level but I think I will be fine over the rest of the tournament. I called for the trainer becasue I wanted to make sure everything was alright. It was hurting me when I served but it's not something I am afraid of," she said.
However, Henin-Hardenne did admit that she will consider having to rest the problem once her involvement here comes to an end, which could put her involvement at Wimbledon at risk.
Henin-Hardenne only returned to the tour in April this year after a seven-month absence to cure her viral problem and has been in blistering form since winning three titles in a row in Charleston, Warsaw and Berlin.
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