PARIS: Novak Djokovic's perfect season is still intact, his winning streak is still alive and his clay-court form still looks devastating after he reached the third round of the French Open when Victor Hanescu retired Wednesday because of injury. The second-seeded Serb, who joined 2009 champion Roger Federer in the third round at Roland Garros, improved to 39-0 in 2011 after Hanescu retired while trailing 6-4, 6-1, 2-3. Djokovic also has won 41 straight matches dating to last year's Davis Cup final. “I keep on thinking only about the winning. I'm taking one match at a time,” Djokovic said. If he makes the final, Djokovic will be assured of the No. 1 ranking in men's tennis for the first time. Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and 2010 French Open finalists Francesca Schiavone and Sam Stosur also reached the third round, while third-seeded Vera Zvonareva had to save a match point to advance. On the men's side, No. 7 David Ferrer of Spain, No. 9 Gael Monfils of France and former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro made it through. Djokovic won seven straight games at one point and didn't face any trouble from his Romanian opponent. Hanescu called for a trainer to look at his left leg after losing the second set. The trainer came back out after Hanescu held to make it 3-2 in the third. Djokovic then won the next two points before Hanescu called it quits. In the next round, Djokovic will face del Potro, who defeated Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. “Well, it's a big challenge for both of us,” Djokovic said. “He's a fantastic player who always deserved to be in the top five in the world, and I'm sure he's going to come back very quickly there, because he has amazing groundstrokes and a big serve.” Federer, playing an opponent who had never lost a match at the French Open, beat French wild card Maxime Teixeira 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 to reach the third round. Teixeira is now 1-1 at the French Open after winning his first tour-level match Sunday. The 16-time Grand Slam champion, despite being broken early in the match, made it look easy by winning 13 straight games from the first set to the third. Federer will next face 29th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, who beat Pere Riba of Spain 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. Ferrer advanced by beating Julien Benneteau 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, No. 13 Richard Gasquet of France, No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, No. 23 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, No. 30 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine also made it through. Zvonareva saved a match point midway through the third set before beating an ailing Sabine Lisicki 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Lisicki, a German qualifier, twice called for a trainer but continued to play. After the match, she lay on the court sobbing. Wozniacki beat Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-3, 7-6 (6). The Dane trailed 6-3 in the tiebreaker but won the final five points, saving three set points to reach the third round. Wozniacki, who won despite hitting nine fewer winners than her opponent, again played with a bandage on her left thigh. Stosur, who lost to Schiavone in last year's final at Roland Garros, advanced to the third round by beating Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2. The eighth-seeded Stosur had 21 winners and broke her opponent six times before she served out the match at love. Schiavone also had an easy time, beating Vesna Dolonts of Russia 6-1, 6-2 after winning 11 games in a row. No. 10 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, No. 11 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 13 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, No. 17 Julia Goerges of Germany, No. 28 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and No. 29 Peng Shuai of China also won, while Gisela Dulko of Argentina eliminated No. 32 Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.
