Roger Federer and Serena Williams cruise through at Roland Garros
AWAY from the courts, Roger Federer may be turning into a doubles specialist - his second set of twins was delivered just three weeks ago - but on them he remains as single-minded as ever.
Federer eased his way past Lukas Lacko yesterday, taking just 84 minutes to launch his French Open campaign.
He made light work of the world No88 but, on clay, many men do. The Slovak has not won a match on the red stuff for three years and yesterday's 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 pummelling was his 11th consecutive defeat on the surface he sensibly tries to avoid like the plague.
In such a one-sided victory, it was hard for Federer to assess the true state of his form, but what he does know is that he is feeling fitter and stronger than usual at this time of year. That is due in no small part to his rapidly growing family.
Missing the Madrid Masters to be at the birth of his sons and then losing early in Rome the following week gave him plenty of time to hit the practice courts and the gym, and the result is he is now raring to get back into the thick of competition.
After two days off, he will next face Diego Sebastian Schwartzman from Argentina, who beat fellow qualifier Gastao Elias 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 yesterday.
"Because I was home and it gave me more time to train, I have become again a touch stronger in the last few weeks and months really, which was important after the year I had last year," said Federer.
"Everything is great. I'm happy I got off to a good start here. There's always that little bit of feeling that if you don't feel well, if the opponent plays great, whatever happens so you could lose early. So I'm very pleased with the outcome of the match, very satisfied. My personal life is all great, so I'm happy the family is here."
Serena Williams was in equally relaxed mood after her simple 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Alize Lim. Apart from a few pre-match nerves - and no matter how many Grand Slam titles she wins, she still gets nervous - she was perfectly at home on the main court at Roland Garros.
Then again, she has an apartment in Paris, she trains in Paris, and her relationship with her French coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, is rumoured to be rather more than merely professional. Suffice to say, Serena likes Paris.
What came as a huge surprise was to see Lim on the other side of the net. The 23-year-old Frenchwoman also trains at the Mouratoglou Academy and has become friends with the world No1.
"We kind of all get along," Williams said. "We go to dinner every now and then. She's been getting so much better, and she made up her mind that she wanted to compete and be one of the best. I'm really proud of her."
She may have been proud but she was certainly ruthless - there is no room for friendship in Williams's life when a Grand Slam is at stake.
