The Associated Press

PARIS - Third-seeded Guillermo Coria overcame a slow start to beat qualifier Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 Wednesday in the second round at the French Open.

Coria, a semifinalist last year, lost four of the first five games and needed more than an hour to pull out the first set. He rallied from a service break down in the third set.

"I knew it would be a difficult beginning to the match, that he would give me everything he had," Coria said. "I finished the match very well, and I'm playing well."

Coria had 29 winners and just 25 unforced errors against Monaco, who was playing in his first Grand Slam tournament. Monaco was hurt by 10 double-faults but kept Coria the court for nearly 2 1/2 hours.

A French Open junior champion in 1999, Coria is seeking his first Grand Slam title. He has won 33 of his past 34 clay-court matches, with the only loss to top-ranked Roger Federer in this month's Hamburg final.

"I know there are difficult matches ahead," Coria said. "Everyone is here to win, as am I."

On the women's side, Zheng Jie matched the best showing by a Chinese woman in a Grand Slam event by reaching the third round when she beat No. 31 Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1. Li Fang of China made the third round at the 1992 Australian Open.

Zheng said anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics has given tennis a boost in her country.

"During recent years the Chinese tennis association has paid more attention to tennis," Zheng said. "Because we have the Olympic Games, the city has invested more money and given the national tennis players more opportunities to play many tournaments outside. The training conditions in China are getting better and better."

France's best hope, No. 3-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.

Also advancing were four seeded Russian women - Nadia Petrova, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova.

No. 8 Petrova, a semifinalist last year, beat Yuliana Fedak 6-0, 6-1. No. 9 Dementieva defeated Nicole Pratt 6-2, 6-2. No. 10 Zvonareva rallied past Magui Serna 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. No. 18 Sharapova swept Rita Grande 6-2, 6-0.

No. 28 Lisa Raymond was eliminated by Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-4, 6-0.

"I thought I had eight lives left, and I guess I didn't," said the 28th-seeded Raymond, who trailed 6-0, 5-0 Monday before fighting back to beat Lubomira Kurhajcova 0-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Monday.

"It should carry over as a positive, to know you have the heart to get into a hole like that and fight and claw your way back," she said after her loss Wednesday. "But I just wasn't there today."

In other men's play, No. 5 Carlos Moya beat Fernando Vicente 6-1, 6-2, 6-1. Moya, the 1998 champion, improved to 11-0 this year against his countrymen.

Two-time runner-up Alex Corretja beat No. 13 Paradorn Srichaphan 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. No. 9 Tim Henman eliminated Lars Burgsmuller 6-0, 6-3, 6-3.