Rosset through in Paris as Federer falls

Rosset dispatched Pioline in straight sets Keystone

Swiss number two Marc Rosset has booked his place in the third round of the final Masters Series tennis event in Paris. The Genevan achieved an impressive straight sets win over the tournament's 14th seed, Cedric Pioline of France.

Pioline, who is also a Geneva resident, was no match for his Swiss neighbour in their ninth match against each other. While the Frenchman made one unforced error after another, Rosset served up 11 aces to secure a 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Rosset was only troubled once in the second set. But after defending set point at 5-3 down, the Swiss player broke his opponent once more to deny Pioline any chance of a third set.

While Rosset prepared for his next match against Fabrice Santoro, the Swiss number one Roger Federer was heading out of the three million dollar event.

Unable to build on his recent good performances the Basel finalist crashed out of the first round in less than an hour and a half, losing in three sets to Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty.

After taking the first set 6-4, the Basel teenager lost control of the match in spectacular fashion, conceding breaks in his first service games of the second and third sets. Hrbaty took full advantage to seal a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win.

On Wednesday Swiss number three George Bastl is due to take on the Russian world number two, Marat Safin. The US Open winner has beaten Bastl in both their previous meetings.

swissinfo with agencies