PARIS — Playing on the court nicknamed the bullring, defending French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova found herself backed into a corner facing triple match point.

An hour later, she was at the net for a handshake and into the third round.

The Russian's great escape came Wednesday against Andrea Petkovic, who held four match points in the second set but lost 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

"The one thing in the world I want is to be here right now, and I want to win so badly," the No. 6-seeded Kuznetsova said.

The start of play on Day 5 was delayed by rain this morning. An hour after action was scheduled to begin, all courts at Roland Garros were covered by tarps. Among those players whose matches were delayed: No. 6 Andy Roddick of Austin, Texas, and No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

On Wednesday, the defending men's champion, Roger Federer, was slowed only by two rain delays. Unfazed, he eliminated Alejandro Falla 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.

"This is how this game has been played for decades," Federer said. "We're used to walking on and off the court and being flexible about these kind of things."

After three days of warm sunshine, conditions were damp and cool for Wednesday's start of round two. There was a third delay of 90 minutes after Federer finished.

The weather change slowed the courts on Day 4, but No. 2-seeded Venus Williams continued to hit booming serves anyway. She topped out at 128 mph and was never broken in a win over Arantxa Parra Santonja, 6-2, 6-4.