Paolini sweeps aside Tomljanovic to reach third round

PARIS, May 28 (Reuters): Last year's French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini gave a touch to Rafael Nadal's footprint on Court Phlippe Chatrier before racing into the third round with a 6-3 6-3 victory against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday.
The Italian fourth seed was barely bothered in a one-sided affair on a gloomy Parisian day as she set up a meeting with Ukrainian lucky loser Yuliia Starodubtseva or Russian Anastasia Potapova.
During the warm-up, Paolini, who is trained by Nadal's former coach Marc Lopez, approached the permanent footprint of the 14-times French Open champion that was installed next to the net on Roland Garros's main court during a ceremony in the Spaniard's honour last Sunday, and gave it a light touch.
"It's hard to play against Ajla, she's very aggressive but I tried to mix it up and play aggressively myself," Paolini said.
"Last year, I played two matches here and a bit at the Olympics, now I'm a bit more used to it (Court Philippe Chatrier).
The diminutive Paolini, who easily handled Tomljanovic's all-in approach, sealed the opening set with a cross-court passing shot after dragging her opponent to the net with a subtle drop shot.
She kept her focus in the second set, wrapping it up in front of a barely half-capacity crowd - a common occurrence for the French Open opening match on the main court.
Meanwhile, Italian Lorenzo Musetti eased into the third round of the French Open with a no-nonsense 6-4 6-0 6-4 victory against Colombian lucky loser Daniel Galan on Wednesday.
The eighth-seeded Musetti's main trouble was intermittent rain on court Simonne Matthieu as he set up a meeting with Argentine Mariano Navone or Reilly Opelka of the U.S.
"It has been a tremendous clay season so far but I want to go higher. I've never made it past the fourth round here," said Musetti, who reached the Monte Carlo Masters final and the last four in Rome and Madrid to make his first foray into the top 10.
A Galan double fault in the third game handed Musetti the first break and the Italian opened a 5-2 lead after aggressive play helped him steal his opponent's serve again.
The Colombian pulled a break back in the eighth game as Musetti's serve wobbled. But Musetti saw off another break as he served for the set, which he bagged with a commanding smash.
In another match, China's Zheng Qinwen powered past Colombia's Emiliana Arango to reach the third round of the French Open on Wednesday as the Olympic champion again showed her liking for Parisian clay.
The 22-year-old swept to the Olympic title at Roland Garros last August and her 6-2 6-3 victory over Arango underlined why she is being tipped to win her first Grand Slam.