Day 4: Federer playing familiar foe Falla

The second round of the French Open begins Wednesday, with defending champion, and world number one, Roger Federer playing Colombia’s Alejandro Falla. The two players met at the same stage at Roland Garros four years ago.

Last year’s runner-up, Robin Söderling from Sweden, will try to replicate his strong performance in the first round when he takes on Taylor Dent from the US. This is Dent’s first appearance in the tournament’s second stage.

Scotland’s Andy Murray, who fought hard to eliminate France’s Richard Gasquet in first round, will try to get past Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina on court number one.

Frenchman Gael Monfils meets Italy’s Fabio Fognini, followed by an all-French contest between Josselin Ouanna and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Other French players still in competition are Julien Benneteau -challenging Argentina's Leonardo Mayer- and Edouard Roger Vasselin, who meets the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych.

Among the women, Spain's Arantxa Parra-Santoja has the unenviable task of facing world number two Venus Williams. Russian Elena Demienteva, world number five, will face Spain's Anabel Garrigues Median.

Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia faces Germany's Andrea Petkovic.

The French favourite player, Aravane Rezai, will play against Germany's Angelique Kerber. Her compatriot Stephanie Cohen-Aloro will face number 11 seed Na Li of China.

The matchups are a recipe for an exciting day at Roland Garros, but the forecasted bad weather could disrupt Wednesday’s schedule.