Hewitt strides through to third round in Paris

PARIS, June 1 (Reuters) Australian 14th seed Lleyton Hewitt saved a set point before beating Frenchman Mathieu Montcourt 7-5 6-3 6-3 in the French Open second round today.

Hewitt showed little sign of his ankle problem and if the former world number one wins his third round match, he is in line to meet defending champion Rafael Nadal in round four.

Montcourt, ranked 213, recovered from 4-1 down in the first set to lead 5-4 before Hewitt hit back and he eventually won comfortably on centre court.

Nadal tackles American lucky loser Kevin Kim later today and women's champion Justine Henin-Hardenne plays Belarussian Anastasiya Yakimova.

Henin-Hardenne's Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters, the second seed, and Switzerland's Martina Hingis are also in action.

Former champion Anastasia Myskina eased past Hungary's Melinda Czink 6-2 6-4 to advance to the third round today.

The Russian 10th seed, winner of the tournament in 2004, wrapped up the 64-minute contest on her third match point to set up a showdown with 19th seed Ana Ivanovic.

Serbia and Montenegro's Ivanovic demolished France's Emilie Loit 6-1 6-1.

Czech 11th seed Radek Stepanek hammered Davide Sanguinetti of Italy 6-3 6-3 6-1 to reach round three and equal his best performance at a grand slam.

Reuters PG BD1734