PARIS, May 27: A half-hearted Juan Carlos Ferrero surrendered his French Open title without so much as a whimper when he lost to 77th-ranked Igor Andreev in the second round on Thursday.

Hampered by rib and wrist injuries, the Spaniard stumbled to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 defeat in fading sunshine on centre court. It was an ignominious exit for a player who had never before lost earlier than the semifinals at Roland Garros, matching that of women's champion Justine Henin-Hardenne on Wednesday.

Roger Federer, by contrast, made many friends on the centre court with a crowd-pleasing victory over Nicolas Kiefer to reach the third round. The world number one had never won a match on the Parisian centre stage before but so enthralled was the crowd by his 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory, it will be hard for organisers to schedule him anywhere other than the main arena in future.

In women's action, Venus Williams toiled for an hour and 21 minutes to beat Jelena Kostanic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3. The American was in erratic form, losing the first three games, but did enough to set up a last-32 clash against former French Open champion Mary Pierce.

Pierce advanced with ease, the powerfully-built French baseliner pummelling Spain's Gala Leon Garcia 6-1, 6-1. Jennifer Capriati also muscled her way through, out-gunning Czech qualifier Kveta Peschke 7-5, 6-3.

Only three times before, since tennis turned professional in 1968, had a men's French Open champion lost in the second round, but the writing was on the wall the moment Ferrero stepped on court.

Lethargic and dispirited, he allowed Andreev to take the initiative from the start. The 20-year-old Russian had never won a Grand Slam match before the tournament but he produced a fine display of attacking tennis to knock out the fourth seed, sealing victory with an ace.

Like Ferrero, Federer was far from his best but against Kiefer he never had to be. "It was important to get used to the centre court," he smiled. "I am happy I got through.

"You know it was okay. But I think I will have to play a little bit better next match." Next up for the Wimbledon and Australian Open champion is a player who has made centre court his own, three-times former champion Gustavo Kuerten.

The Brazilian stormed into the third round with a 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 win over Belgian Gilles Elseneer. "It will be a great match for the tournament," Federer said. "If I can get through him that is for me a huge step."

Federer and Kuerten were joined in the third round by another former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt, who beat Austrian Juergen Melzer 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. "I feel pretty confident where my game's at at the moment," the 12th-seeded Australian said. "I feel confident maybe overall more, maybe moving a little bit better on clay this year purely because I've spent a little bit more time on it."

Jennifer Capriati muscled her way through, out-gunning Czech qualifier Kveta Peschke 7-5, 6-3. The American seventh seed, French champion in 2001, wrapped up victory after 73 minutes when Peschke netted a backhand volley having saved two match points.

"You know, I did what I had to do to basically win the match," she said. "Maybe it took me a little while to get going and wake up there a little bit. Capriati is on course for a quarterfinal against second seed Serena Williams.

Thursday's results (prefix number denotes seeding):

MEN'S SINGLES:

Second Round: 8-David Nalbandian (Argentina) beat Alejandro Falla (Colombia) 5-7, 6-0, 6-2, 6-0; Gaston Gaudio (Argentina) beat 14-Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Igor Andreev (Russia) beat 4-Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; Potito Starace (Italy) beat 10-Sebastien Grosjean (France) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-4; Stefan Koubek (Austria) beat 25-Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 6-0, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; 19-Martin Verkerk (Netherlands) beat Victor Hanescu (Romania) 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 3-0 - Hanescu retired injured; 28-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) beat Gilles Elseneer (Belgium) 6-2, 6-0, 6-3; Julien Benneteau (France) beat David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5; 1-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6); 23-Feliciano Lopez (Spain) beat Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 12-Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) beat Jurgen Melzer (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Xavier Malisse (Belgium) beat Daniel Elsner (Germany) 6-3, 4-0 - retired; 26-Albert Costa (Spain) beat Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-1, 6-2, 7-5; Lee Hyung-taik (South Korea) beat Olivier Patience (France) 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

WOMEN'S SINGLES:

Second Round: Gisela Dulko (Argentina) beat 20-Conchita Martinez (Spain) 6-4, 7-5; 25-Elena Bovina (Russia) beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Germany) 3-2 - retired injured; 6-Anastasia Myskina (Russia) beat Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) 6-0, 6-4; 4-Venus Williams (US) beat Jelena Kostanic (Croatia) 6-3, 6-3; 11-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Barbara Rittner (Germany) 6-1, 6-4; 23-Fabiola Zuluaga (Colombia) beat Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 7-5, 5-7, 6-1; Silvija Talaja (Croatia) beat Stephanie Foretz (France) 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2; 30-Mary Pierce (France) beat Gala Leon Garcia (Spain) 6-1, 6-1; Denisa Chladkova (Czech Republic) beat 29-Petra Mandula (Hungary) 6-2, 6-3; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) beat 12-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-1; Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) beat 16-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; 17-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; Myriam Casanova (Switzerland) beat Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) beat Shenay Perry (US) 6-4, 6-3; 7-Jennifer Capriati (US) beat Kveta Peschke (Czech Republic) 7-5, 6-3.

Wednesday's remaining result:

WOMEN'S SINGLES:

Second Round: 21-Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Marta Marrero (Spain) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 7-5. -Reuters