Paris, May 31:

Lleyton Hewitt rallied from two sets down for the fourth time in his career on Thursday and beat 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the French Open.

Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, broke his Argentine opponent in the third and seventh games of the third set, and then again to open each of the two remaining sets.

The 14th-seeded Australian made 25 unforced errors in the first two sets, but limited that to 19 in the final three. He also had 20 aces, while Gaudio double-faulted 13 times.

Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round in the women’s draw, easily beating Jill Craybas of the United States 6-2, 6-1. Australian Open champion Serena Williams raced through the first set but was stretched in the second against Milagros Sequera, finally winning 6-0, 7-6 (3).

No 7 Ana Ivanovic advanced by beating Sania Mirza 6-1, 6-4. No 14 Patty Schnyder, No 17 Katarina Srebotnik and No 25 Lucie Safarova also advanced.

On the men’s side, No 6 Novak Djokovic also reached the third round, beating Laurent Recouderc of France 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. No 16 Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open finalist, No 7 Ivan Ljubicic and No 20 Jarkko Nieminen also won.

Later, Nadal defeated Flavio Cipolla 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round.