TENNIS: Roger Federer eases past Alejandro Falla as World No 2 progresses to second round at French Open

Roger Federer cruised into the second round of the French Open with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over Alejandro Falla.

After the match, a young fan rushed onto the court from the crowd and tried to take a selfie with Federer. It took a worrying amount of time for security to remove him.

This was the only surprise on a straightforward day for Federer in Paris. Despite being a little wasteful, converting just four of 16 break points, he blasted 42 winners and looked in control. 

 

Roger Federer has progressed to the second round of the French Open following victory over Alejandro Falla

The World No 2 improved as the match progressed but only won four of 16 break points in Paris 

Colombia's Falla returns a shot to Federer during their first-round match at the French Open on Sunday

And, with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal all in the other half of the draw, he will fancy his chances of making the final here at Roland Garros. 

He said: 'The French Open clay plays slightly different...so winning a match like this is a good thing — I hit a lot of balls today. I hope that I can play better and better as the tournament goes on.' 

Falla started well, hitting with depth and consistency and earning the first break point of the match, only to blast a return long. Federer made a few errors early in the match but the Columbian lacked the power on either his serve or groundstrokes to punish him.

Falla has never beaten Federer in seven previous meetings, although he did force the great Swiss to battle back from two sets down at Wimbledon in 2010. The world No 2 was never in such trouble here this afternoon.

At 4-3 in the first set Federer forced three break points. Falla saved two before pushing a backhand long. The Swiss, who stood out even more than usual in purple shirt and radioactive-orange shorts, served out the first set.

At the start of the second set, Federer's tennis matched the effervescence of his outfit. His found his range on the forehand and varied the angle of attack with knifing slice backhands. 

Federer serves during his first-round match against Falla at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday  

A young member of the crowd rushes on to the court to try and take a picture with Federer at Roland Garros

At 1-1 Falla saved five break points but Federer earned a sixth with a drop shot that kissed the top of the tape and the Columbian finally cracked.

The world No 111 stuck to his task, but each hold was an ordeal. Federer, meanwhile, breezed through his service games and broke again at 5-3 to take the second set.

From there, he continued to move through his repertoire, including the shot of the match, a spectacular leaping overhead smash. 

With Falla serving to stay in the tournament at 4-5, Federer moved in for the kill, bringing up match point and casually knocking away a short ball. 

After the match, Federer and Falla meet in the centre of the court to shake hands at Roland Garros