<p>PARIS &mdash; Two matches. Ten sets. A total of 628 points played.</p>
<p>Just another Grand Slam filled with five-setters for Kei Nishikori.</p>
<p>The former U.S. Open finalist rallied past 23rd-seeded Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the French Open — after having also gone the distance to beat Italian qualifier Alessandro Giannessi in his opening match.</p>
<p>“My energy level was not great. Four hours first match and four hours today,” Nishikori said. “I just keep playing.</p>
<p>“My body (is) saying no but my mind is saying keep playing. … I feel like (having played) five matches already.”</p>
<p>Nishikori improved to 9-2 in five-set matches at Roland Garros and 26-7 in his career. He’s won 10 of his last 11 five-setters.</p>
<p>Khachanov was treated by a trainer in the fifth set after cutting his right middle finger by hitting his racket strings in anger.</p>
<p>As the match wore on, Nishikori attempted to end points quicker and mixed in different tactics like serve-and-volleying. On his first match point, he unleashed a powerful inside-out forehand that landed so close to the line that even Nishikori hesitated before realizing it was in and the match was finally over after 3 hours, 59 minutes.</p>
<p>“I just tried to be aggressive in the last game,” Nishikori said after breaking Khachanov at love to close it out.</p>
<p>Nishikori next faces Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen, who upset 11th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his first victory against a top-20 player.</p>
<p>DOUBLES DEFEAT</p>
<p>It’s one thing to play doubles with your little sister. Quite another to pair with someone 23 years your junior.</p>
<p>Just ask Venus Williams.</p>
<p>Williams learned that when she and 17-year-old Coco Gauff were beaten by 13th-seeded Ellen Perez and Zheng Saisai 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.</p>
<p>It marked the first time that Williams had played a Grand Slam doubles match with anyone but her sister. She and Serena Williams have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.</p>
<p>Gauff has won three WTA doubles titles with Caty McNally, including last week at Parma, Italy, where Gauff also won the singles titles to push her ranking to a career-best No. 25. She is the youngest American woman to make her debut in the Top 25 since Serena accomplished the feat back in 1998.</p>
<p>Also in doubles, defending singles champion Iga Swiatek teamed with Bethanie Mattek-Sands to rout the French pair of Aubane Droguet and Selena Janicijevic 6-0, 6-1.</p>
<p>FINNISH-SWISS SURPRISE</p>
<p>Representing a country where Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka generally take all of the tennis attention, Laaksonen is used to staying low profile.</p>
<p>Not anymore.</p>
<p>The 29-year-old Laaksonen has made a surprise run to the third round after producing what he called the best match of his life against Bautista Agut.</p>
<p>Laaksonen finished with 53 winners.</p>
<p>“So far they have been dropping inside the lines,” he said. “Let’s see what happens next.”</p>
<p>Laaksonen entered Roland Garros on a five-match losing streak and hadn’t posted a victory since October.</p>
<p>“I played last week in Geneva a little bit better, and here I had some tough matches in (qualifying),” Laaksonen said. “Today was just (an) amazing match for me. I was playing really aggressive and it paid off.”</p>
<p>Laaksonen moved from Finland to Switzerland — where his father is from — when he was 16.</p>
<p>Having grown up near Helsinki, he learned to play in challenging weather conditions.</p>
<p>“They opened the clay courts really early, sometimes like end of March, beginning of April already,” he said. “Sometimes we were playing when it was snowing a little bit, but we had always quite a long clay season actually.”</p>
<hr />
<p>Petrequin reported from Paris. Dampf from Rome.</p>
<p>___ </p>
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