PARIS — With no standout leader of the pack, French men progressed en masse to the third round at Roland Garros on Wednesday, scoring a perfect five out of five on their home clay.
Chief entertainer Gael Monfils brought the lively court Philippe Chatrier crowd to their feet with a 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-3 win against Argentine Diego Schwartzman and celebrated by scratching a smiley in the red dust.
Twelfth seed Gilles Simon begun the charge with a straight sets win over Martin Klizan. Long-time French talisman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, seeded 14 after a drop in ranking, thrashed Dudi Sela and there were surprise wins for eccentric Benoit Paire and Nicolas Mahut over Italian 28th seed Fabio Fognini and Latvia's 2014 semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis respectively.