And, by dropping a set, just as he did against American Brian Vahaly in the first round, the youngster from Adelaide has shown chinks in his armour.

He does not lack battling qualities however, having more in his war chest than any other player on tour, yet clay is a surface on which he must learn to be patient, and his trademark pummelling drives do not make the same impact they might on hard-court, grass or carpet.

Hewitt was on court for three hours and 29 minutes and could have closed out the match without needing a tie-break in the fourth set.

Leading 5-4, he had a match point but failed to convert the chance and Davydenko forced level.

Hewitt had his serve broken many times in the match and in the fourth set tie-break he had the same problem. Davydenko took a 4-1 lead and looked set to level the match at two sets each, only for his opponent to find an extra gear.

By embarking on a run of five successive points, Hewitt gave himself two match points at 6-4 in the tie-break, and although he missed the first, a Davydenko forehand which landed wide put an end to the match.

Earlier David Nalbandian, considered the top player in a formidable group of Argentinians at the French Open, suffered an upset in the second round against unheralded Frenchman Nicolas Coutelot.

A Wimbledon finalist last summer, Nalbandian was seeded eighth for this tournament and went into his match a hot favourite against a player who has played most of his tennis on the Challenge Tour this year.

But Coutelot ended his hopes with a 6-3 6-3 4-6 2-6 6-1 victory on Court 7.

Coutelot is 208th in the ATP Entry rankings but he has had some success here, making it to the third round two years ago after upsetting Marcelo Rios, an achievement he has described as the best moment of his career.

Coutelot must now regroup and prepare for his match against fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement, a 6-3 6-3 6-3 winner over Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller.

Juan Carlos Ferrero does not consider himself to be a favourite at the French Open even though the bookies think otherwise.

The third seed from Spain, beaten in last year’s final by fellow countryman Albert Costa, is the bookmakers’ 2-1 favourite for the crown and he is now in the third round after Chile’s Nicolas Massu suffered an ankle injury and had to retire from their match. Ferrero was leading 6-2 3-0 at the time.

Sjeng Schalken made quick work of French Davis Cup star Fabrice Santoro, winning 6-1 6-3 6-4.

The Dutchman, seeded 12th, has never made it past the third round and that is where he is expected to face a difficult challenge in Fernando Gonzalez, the 19th seed from Chile.

Gonzalez beat Spain’s Albert Portas 6-3 4-6 6-4 6-2.

Jarkko Nieminen won in five sets against France’s Julien Varlet and now takes on Victor Hanescu, a victor in four sets over Andy Roddick’s conqueror, Sargis Sargsian of Armenia.

Roddick’s good friend, American Davis Cup team-mate James Blake, was another who fell short of expectations.

Ljubicic, who beat Blake twice in Croatia’s Davis Cup victory over the United States in February – once in the singles and also in the doubles, pulled off the feat again this time in the second round at Roland Garros, winning against the 24th seed 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7/2) 6-4.