French Open: Wawrinka, Nishikori in Rd 3; Radwanska, Kvitova Also Progress

Defending Champion Stan Wawrinka and fifth seed Kei Nishikori entered the third round of the French Open in contrasting fashion on Wednesday.

In the women's singles, former runner-up Simona Halep and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova also entered the third round.

Stan Wawrinka reached the third round after labouring to a 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4 win over Japan's Taro Daniel.

The third-seeded Swiss fended off two set points against world number 93 Daniel in an opening tie-break, and Wawrinka was also forced to rally from a break down in the third set before wrapping up a straight-sets victory.

Wawrinka will face 32nd-ranked Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in the last 16.

Straight sets win for Nishikori

Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in 2015, coasted into the last 32 with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov.

Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up, goes on to face former world number seven Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

Verdasco, 32, is playing his 13th Roland Garros and will present Nishikori with a formidable challenge holding a 2-1 lead in their head to head record.

He won their only meeting on clay in Barcelona in 2012 although that came through an injury retirement.

Rollercoaster tie for Halep

Sixth seed Halep, the losing finalist to Maria Sharapova in 2014, endured a rollercoaster tie on Court Philippe Chatrier against Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan before securing a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win.

Halep, 24, was 1-4 down in the first set to the world number 90 before rallying and grabbing the tie-break.

The opening set featured six breaks of serve before the Romanian coasted through the second.

Halep will next face Japan's Naomi Osaka, the world 101 who has reached the third round at a major for the second successive time having also enjoyed a run to the last 32 in Australia.

Osaka, 18, knocked out 34-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 6-3 which would have been relief to Halep who lost to the world number 52 Croatian at the French Open last year and US Open in 2014.

Easy win for Halep

Kvitova, the 10th seed, saw off Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh 6-4, 6-1 in a much more comfortable outing than her opener against Danka Kovinic where she had been just two points away from defeat at one stage.

Kvitova, a semi-finalist in 2012, next faces Shelby Rogers of the United States.

Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, was too strong for Britain's Heather Watson winning 6-1, 6-3.

Kuznetsova next faces Fed Cup teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who saw off Cagla Buyukakcay, the first Turkish woman to win a match at a Grand Slam, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Radwanska wins

Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland reached the last 32 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over France's Caroline Garcia.

Radwanska, a quarter-finalist in 2013, will face Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic for a place in the last 16.