Defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne celebrated her 24th birthday with a second-round victory at the French Open, overcoming three set points in the second set to beat Anastasiya Yakimova 6-2, 7-5 on Thursday.
Yakimova, a 19-year-old Belarussian, was on the verge of forcing a third set serving at 5-4, 40-love. Henin-Hardenne won the next nine points and closed out the victory when Yakimova hit a wild forehand on match point.
"We hope for better tennis for everyone," Henin-Hardenne said. "It was difficult to play good tennis today. The ball was just too heavy at the end of the match."
Two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt also won before a rain delay of 1 hour, 50 minutes, which backed up the schedule and forced some play to be postponed or suspended until Friday. Among those who never took court were defending champion Rafael Nadal, No. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters and No. 12 Martina Hingis.
Henin-Hardenne, seeded fifth, advanced despite losing serve four times and committing 43 unforced errors. She saved one set point with a lob winner, and another with a drop shot that sent Yakimova skidding to one knee, unable to reach the ball.
Hewitt overcame a slow start to beat Mathieu Montcourt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. The 14th-seeded Hewitt, who has been hampered by calf and ankle injuries, was playing only his third match since early April.
"The ankle is still not 100 percent," Hewitt said. "I've played with pain before, and this is just another case of it."
A two-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, Hewitt missed the tournament last year with a rib injury and has played little on clay the past two years. The Australian will next face No. 22 Dominik Hrbaty, who overcame Ivo Karlovic's 31 aces to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-2.
Another Croatian, No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic matched his best showing at Roland Garros, reaching the third round by beating Oscar Hernandez of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-2.
In a battle of the ages, No. 25 Gael Monfils beat Belgian qualifier Dick Norman 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-0, 7-5. Norman was the oldest man in the tournament at 35, while Monfils is 19.
No. 9 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile was upset by 19-year-old Novak Djokovic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1. Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, seeded 19th, lost to Julien Benneteau of France 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4.
"It's been tough for me after Australia -- a lot of questions in my head, a lot of doubts," Baghdatis said. "It's not so easy. I think I need some time. I need some experience to find my way through."
No. 7 Tommy Robredo, No. 31 Dmitry Tursunov and Argentine qualifier Martin Vassallo Arguello won matches suspended overnight because of darkness.
Arguello, ranked 181st, trailed when his match was halted after three sets but rallied to beat No. 21 Sebastien Grosjean 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
"I feel I deserve it," Arguello said. "I feel I have been fighting a lot, running like a dog."
Grosjean finished with 87 unforced errors.
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