Roland Garros Results: Federer, Kuznetsova and Venus Advance, Rain Halts Play in Monfils/Fognini Thriller

Sorry I didn't do results yesterday...once again, I'm loaded with work. And Rafa won, but I'm sure you knew that.

Rain put a damper on the 4th day of play at Roland Garros but among those who were lucky enough to squeeze their matches in early was Venus Williams, who was first on Chatrier, earning a win over Araxta Parra Santonja, 6-2, 6-4. Venus was joined in the third round by Caroline Wozniacki, seeded 3rd, who beat Tathiana Garbin 3 and 1. Nadia Petrova and Aravane Rezai both won, setting up what is sure to be an exciting third round clash between the two of them. Lucie Safarova was upset by Polona Hercog 6-1, 6-2.

Ale-Alejando Falla *plugging gaga* served for the opening set against Roger Federer but lost it in a tiebreak, and was unable to keep up his strong level of play in the 2nd in 3rd, falling 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4. Robin Soderling has been rather under-the-radar at this year's French open but he's easily playing the best tennis of anyone, surrendering just 2 games in a dominating win over Taylor Dent. Marin Cilic, a possible round of 16 opponent for Soderling, defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 while Stanislas Wawrinka, also in the first quarter of the draw, easily ousted Andreas Beck in straights.

Last year's champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, was down a set to Andrea Petkovic before mounting a comeback to prevail 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. A fellow Russian of Kuzzie's, Maria Kirilenko, reached the 3rd round with a 6-3, 6-3 victory and Gisela Dulko, who upset Victoria Azarenka in round 1, was defeated by Channelle Scheepers 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. 14th seed Flavia Pennetta was up 6-1, 5-1 on Roberta Vinci before rain suspended the match until tomorrow, and Dominika Cibulkova, 2009 semifinalist, won 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Gael Monfils looked to be headed for a routine win over Fabio Fognini before the Frenchman squandered a 2-set lead, allowing the match to go to a deciding 5th set. Fognini started complaining about the lack of light early in the 5th, while Monfils was persistent in staying on court. The umpire sided with Monfils, and the match continued until 5-5, when even spectators began to have difficulty seeing. Andy Murray was leading 6-2, 3-3 before his match with Juan Ignacio Chela was also put off until Thursday. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 along with Tomas Berdych, Mikhail Youzhny and Albert Montanes.