Mixed fortunes for Swiss at French Open

Marc Rosset in action in his first round match at the French Open in Paris Keystone

Switzerland's top tennis players have had a mixed showing during Wednesday's play at the French Open in Paris.

In their rain-delayed first round matches, Marc Rosset beat Zimbabwe’s Byron Black, but George Bastl lost to the Russian, Marat Safin.

Rosset ran out the easy winner in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, 6-0 and will now meet the Ukranian, Andrei Medvedev in the second round. Bastl won the first set in his match but found the 12th seeded Russian too strong, going down 7-6, 1-6, 3-6, 2-6.

There were also wins for both Roger Federer and rising Swiss star, Michel Kratochvil in their second round games. Federer saw of Jan-Michel Gambill of the United States in three sets, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Kratochvil lost the first set against Bulgaria’s Orlin Stanoytchev in a tie-breaker, but fought back to go through to the third round with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2-6-1.

In the women’s game, there was bad news for Switzerland’s Miroslawa Vavrinec. She lost her first round match against Paraguay’s Rosanna de los Rios in straight sets, 4-6, 6-7.

swissinfo with agencies