Far from vintage but Roger Federer is through

ROGER Federer survived a scare to book his place in round three of the French Open tennis as a spirited challenge from Argentina's Jose Acasuso ran out of steam at Roland Garros.

SAFE PASSAGE: Federer survives a scare to advance at the French Open (Getty Images)

It took Federer nearly three-and-a-half hours to see off the world number 46 - who fell to pieces, having thrown away a 5-1 lead in the third set, as the Swiss ace went for the kill.

The second seed showed the ruthless streak that ended Rafael Nadal's 33-game winning run on clay at the Madrid Open as he blitzed his way past a crestfallen Acasuso to secure a 7-6 (10-8), 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory.

Federer had been staring down the barrel of a gruelling five-set match as he struggled to find any rhythm in the second set and the majority of the third.

But at 5-1 up, Acasuso went over on his ankle and was shaken out of his stride, Federer smelled blood and the rest was history.

Federer has been a losing finalist in Paris for the last three years - each time to Nadal, and without producing a vintage display, did enough to book a third round clash with France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, who eased his way past Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-2, 6-3, 6-4..

Another Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro fared significantly better and blitzed his way into round three with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-0 win over Serbia's world number 32 Viktor Troicki.

And Russia's tenth seed Nikolay Davydenko resumed overnight to see off Diego Junqueira 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 and book a third-round clash with Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

Earlier in the day, Serbia's Jelena Jankovic continued her impressive start in Paris with a comprehensive straight sets win over Magdalena Rybarikova, while seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced.

Serena Williams continued her bid to return to the summit of the world rankings with a formidable 6-2, 6-0 win over Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.