Mauresmo struggles into third round at French Open

PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) World number one Amelie Mauresmo held her nerve to reach the third round of the French Open with a 6-1 7-6 win over Russian Vera Dushevina today.

Mauresmo, who made her grand slam breakthrough in January by winning the Austalian Open, did not serve as well as she had in her first-round match against American Meghann Shaughnessy and was broken four times.

The last meeting between the two players ended in a 6-1 6-2 thrashing of Dushevina at the Berlin Open but the Russian was not in a mood to be a mere sparring partner on her way to the Paris final.

''It was great to play today despite the conditions but I reckon I struggled with my tennis,'' said Mauresmo.

The Suzanne-Lenglen court favourite was the first player to hold serve in the third game and never looked back, grabbing the first set in 34 minutes.

The Russian reacted strongly in the second, racing to a 4-2 lead after breaking Mauresmo twice.

Mauresmo raised her game to level the match at 5-5 but was broken once more, running to the net to give Dushevina a chance to force her into an uncertain third set.

Instead, Mauresmo found the resources to steal the Russian's serve a last time and went on to win the resulting tie-break 7-5 after squandering three match points.

She will meet Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro in the next round.

REUTERS CH KP2358