Roger Federer was lucky to keep alive his dream of winning a maiden Roland Garros crown and Venus Williams used a good night’s sleep to spare herself from a French Open nightmare in the second round on Thursday.

Federer appeared to be heading for his earliest Grand Slam defeat since 2003 when he struggled to find his touch for three sets on a damp day in Paris but found his range in the nick of time to subdue Argentina’s Jose Acasuso 7-6 (8) 5-7 7-6 (2) 6-2.

Federer stumbled through the first set, was tripped up in the second, fought back from 5-1 down in the third and coasted through the fourth — much to the relief of the panic-stricken fans who gave the players a standing ovation.

“I was not afraid to die, so everything was okay. It was sort of a fun match to be part of with so many ups and downs. I could have won the first three sets. Could have lost them also. (So) I’m thrilled to be through,” Federer said.

It was a sentiment shared by Williams. The third seed’s second-round tussle was suspended on Wednesday due to bad light after she had lost the first set. She returned to save a match point before crawling over the finishing line with a 6-7 6-2 7-5 win over Czech Lucie Safarova.

Her sister, Serena, enjoyed an easier outing with a 6-2 6-0 destruction of Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual. Jelena Jankovic snuffed out the challenge of Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1 6-2 and Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was at her ruthless best in a 49-minute 6-0 6-2 demolition of Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva.

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