Nadal's victory march on clay continues

Paris: The biggest excitement in Rafael Nadal's latest French Open victory came when he took off his shoe.

The defending champion caused a stir when he asked a trainer to look at his right foot during a changeover, but Nadal was merely bothered by the tape, and he went on to beat Kevin Kim 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 on Friday.

Nadal moved into the third round with his 55th consecutive win on clay, extending his Open era record.

Among those impressed was Kim, an American ranked 97th.

"It felt like you're in the Sahara and you just see the hills and there's no ending," Kim said. "I was just running a lot to grab whatever points I can get."

Their match was one of 10 postponed a day when rain backed up the schedule.

Better weather seemed to suit No 8 James Blake, who rallied past clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. Blake is the lone American left in the men's draw.

"As long as we have one, that's a good sign," he said. "It's an interesting role."

Blake trailed when the match was suspended after one set on Thursday night, and overcame a 4-1 deficit in the third set to take the lead.

He reached the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in four tries.

"I definitely feel so much more comfortable on the surface now," Blake said.

"I'm not going into the clay-court part of the year with dread. It's exciting at 26 years old to be getting better."

Venus Williams advanced to the fourth round by beating Karolina Sprem 7-5, 6-3. Sprem upset Williams two years ago in the second round at Wimbledon.

Williams will next play Patty Schnyder, who rallied past Julia Vakulenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-0.

In a center-court showdown between former champions, Gaston Gaudio beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7). Gaudio had lost five consecutive matches against Ferrero on clay.

Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters won easily after their second-round matches were delayed a day.

Elena Dementieva rallied in a match suspended overnight, beating Viktoriya Kutuzova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.

Nadal advanced unimpeded after calling for a trainer trailing 2-1 in the third set.

"It's not a bad foot," Nadal said. "There was just one problem with the tape."

When Nadal closed out the win seven games later, he walked to the net with a smile, then hopped into a celebratory uppercut.

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In the first round he broke the Open-era record he shared with Guillermo Vilas for the longest clay-court winning streak, and he's now 9-0 at Roland Garros.

"I was happy for the record, but for me the most important thing is Roland Garros," Nadal said.

"I was especially nervous in the first round and second round for Roland Garros. I'm playing a difficult tournament."

Kim said Nadal can be beaten on clay.

"You never know - I mean, he might wake up with a bad neck one day," Kim said.

Nadal's opponent Saturday will be Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Hingis, playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2001, overcame a brief lapse in the second set and beat Zuzana Ondraskova 6-1, 6-3 in 49 minutes.

"I really played very well," Hingis said. "Served well, moved well, everything. It all is coming together again. I just hope it's going to continue like that. I just want to save the best for last."

A five-time Grand Slam champion, Hingis is mounting a comeback from injuries. Roland Garros is the only major event she has yet to win.

Clijsters, seeded second, beat Conchita Martinez Granados 6-0, 6-3 in 55 minutes.

Hingis won the first nine points, committed only three unforced errors in the first 12 games and led 4-0 in the second set.

But then her forehand went awry. Ondraskova, ranked 114th, won three consecutive games and had a point for four-all before Hingis steadied her strokes and closed out the match.

"You lose a little concentration, a little focus," Hingis said. "Then you have to be tense again, not let it go too far and skid away from you once you're playing so well."

Clijsters' match followed a similar pattern: She won the first eight games, lost three in a row and then won four straight.

"I wasn't making the right decisions at the right time in those few games," Clijsters said. "Lucky enough, I got my game back to where it should be, so I ended well."

Jamea Jackson lost to Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-1, leaving two Americans in the women's draw.