Venus Williams struggled with erratic groundstrokes and a persistent opponent before winning the final three games on Thursday to beat Evie Dominikovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the second round at the French Open.
Men's top seed Lleyton Hewitt, meanwhile, survived a three-and-a-half-hour marathon against Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to reach the third round.
Hewitt failed to convert two match points on serve in the fourth set before winning it in a tiebreaker. Davydenko committed 112 unforced errors to 72 for Hewitt, who was also on the court for more than three hours in the opening round.
PHOTO: AFP
Williams, seeded third, committed 68 unforced errors, lost her serve five times and needed nearly two hours to advance.
Dominikovic, ranked 110th, was bidding for an upset on her 23rd birthday.
Williams overpowered Dominikovic at times, hitting one backhand so hard it knocked the Australian's racket from her hand.
But Williams lost her serve twice in a row to drop the second set, and when she hit a backhand wide to lose serve again early in the third set, she bounced her racket strings against her head in dismay.
"Obviously I can't stay at that level and do as well as I like to," Williams said. "I've just got to hit the right shots at the right time."
Advancing more easily were No. 2-seeded Kim Clijsters, No. 6 Lindsay Davenport and No. 7 Jennifer Capriati.
Clijsters beat Marlene Weingartner 6-2, 6-2. Capriati defeated Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-0.
Davenport overcame three consecutive set points and beat Iroda Tulyaganova 7-5, 6-1 to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time since 1999.
Davenport, seeded sixth, is playing in her first tournament since being married April 25 in Hawaii. Her next opponent will be No. 25-seeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, who beat Gala Leon Garcia 6-3, 6-4.
No. 10 Jelena Dokic was upset by Tina Pisnik 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In men's play, defending champion Albert Costa was extended to five sets for the second round in a row. Costa, seeded ninth, outlasted Radek Stepanek 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in three hours, 38 minutes.
Three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, seeded 15th, routed Morocco's Hicham Arazi 6-1, 6-0, 6-1.
No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, the 2002 runner-up, advanced when Nicolas Massu retired trailing 6-2, 3-0. The Chilean came into the match with a sprained left ankle.
On remote court 17, No. 24 James Blake lost to big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. The match was concluded Thursday after being suspended the previous night at the start of the fourth set because of darkness.
Todd Martin lost to No. 25 Tim Henman 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.
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