Rafael Nadal has set a new record for consecutive wins at Roland Garros after cruising past Teimuraz Gabashvili.
Spaniard records 30th straight win at Roland Garros
Defending champion Rafael Nadal has set a new record for consecutive wins in the French Open after advancing to the third round at Roland Garros.
The top seed beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-1 6-4 6-2 to record his 30th straight win, surpassing Chris Evert's run of 29 which came between 1974-81.
Nadal, looking to win the claycourt grand slam for a fifth successive year, will now play Lleyton Hewitt, who in turn beat Andrey Golubev 6-4 6-3 6-1.
The 22-year-old Spaniard was not at his best in his opening-round straight-sets win over Marcos Daniel and he hardly improved against Gabashvili.
He nevertheless proved much too strong for his opponent, earning service breaks in the fourth and sixth games to take the first set in 41 minutes.
Breaks
The world number one broke Gabashvili's serve in the ninth game to love as he closed in on victory.
Nadal proceeded to go through the gears in the third set to wrap up proceedings in two hours and 17 minutes.
"I came here to get a result without thinking about these records," Nadal later admitted. "The important thing is to play my best tennis and be there on the final Sunday.
"I played better today that the first day - won in three sets so that's good and I am happy to be in the third round."
Of the prospect of meeting former world number one Hewitt, whom he beat on his way to winning the 2006 and 2007 titles, Nadal added: "It's always very tough to play againt Lleyton. I will have to play well to have chances to win."
Safin bows out
Meanwhile, Marat Safin bowed out of his final appearance in Paris in typical style against French wildcard Josselin Ouanna.
The Russian, who will retire at the end of the year, was both brilliant and bewildering in losing 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 3-6 10-8 to a player ranked 134th in the world.
Safin fought back from two sets down to force a decider, in which he saved two match points before bashing a wild forehand wide to send his opponent into the third round.
On more than one occasion, the 20th seed got himself out of trouble with the type of exquisitely placed forehands that took him to two grand slam titles.
However, the former world number one would then bury himself in deeper trouble with sloppy shots that brought with them displays of frustration.
Outbursts
Safin, a semi-finalist in 2002, entertained the crowd by directing several monologues - and one punch - at his racket and also kicked a ball.
Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro are set to meet in the third round after both came through their matches on Wednesday.
Eighth seed Verdasco thrashed Philipp Petzschner 6-1 6-2 6-3 while Almagro, the 31st seed and a real danger on clay, needed four sets to overcome Ernests Gulbis 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 6-2.
Seventh seed Gilles Simon made round three with a 7-5 6-0 6-1 win over Robert Kendrick, with Fernando Gonzalez (12), Marin Cilic (13), Stanislas Wawrinka (17) and Victor Hanescu (30) the other seeds to progress in straight sets.
David Ferrer, the 14th seed, beat Nicolas Kiefer in five sets but 21st seed Dmitry Tursunov suffered a 6-3 3-6 6-4 6-1 defeat at the hands of France's Arnaud Clement.
