Paris ? So there was Venus Williams, on center court at the French Open on the final day of May, wearing a sweatshirt, her game as shaky as the weather was dismal.

Thanks to three rain delays totaling nearly two hours, Williams was forced to wait until after 8 p.m. to play her second-round match, and only a few hundred bundled-up spectators saw her fall behind 4-0 as the temperature dropped to 50 degrees.

Williams eventually turned things around in the fading light Wednesday night for a 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over Emma Laine of Finland, a woman who has participated in fewer majors (three) than the American has won (five).

“It’s nice to have moments of truth like that early on in the tournament,” said Williams, seeded No. 11. “I was able to really kind of focus back in, pull in the reins and really realize what I needed to do.”

The match was the perfect up-and-down conclusion to a day of stops and starts, when pretty much everyone complained about the Wimbledon-like weather – even winners such as Roger Federer, Amelie Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova.

Federer’s 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Alejandro Falla was held up twice by showers, for about 11â2 hours combined; on-court action lasted a mere 86 minutes.

Venus Williams returns a shot to Emma Laine. Williams won the second-round match at the French Open, 7-6 (2), 6-2, Wednesday in Paris.

“It’s not easy to come on and off” the court, Federer said. “You always hope your game is still there and it hasn’t left you.”

Fat chance for a player seeking to become the first man since 1969 to win four Grand Slam titles in a row. Federer finished with a 41-13 advantage in winners.

“I would like to win here,” said Federer, a champion at every other major at least twice but never past the semifinals in Paris. “The pressure is quite big.”

Sharapova didn’t show any apparent signs of the right ankle injury that bothered her in the first round, and moved on, 6-4, 6-1, over Iveta Benesova.