NEW YORK, 2 September 2005 — French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne struggled with her game and her composure before finally overcoming Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open yesterday.

Henin-Hardenne blew four match points in the ninth game of the second set, then served out for the win.

Lindsay Davenport, a finalist at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, had little trouble in her 6-1, 6-1 victory over Pauline Parmentier of France.

Three-time French champ Gustavo Kuerten’s bid to win his second Grand Slam match in 15 months ended with a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 loss to 19th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain. Belgium’s Xavier Malisse beat American wild card Brian Baker 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Two days after his stunning upset of Andy Roddick, Gilles Muller was back to looking like the best player from Luxembourg in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 loss to doubles partner Robby Ginepri. The loss was so thorough, it lasted only 80 minutes.

Henin-Hardenne has been limited by injuries much of the last two years. When she’s healthy, she’s one of the best. She won a gold medal at the Athens Olympics last summer, and became the lowest women’s seed — No. 10 — to win the French in the Open era.

Seeded seventh, she’s healthy here. But she wasn’t at her best on Thursday. Normally a perfectionist, she was bothered by the second day of stiff wind and her game didn’t have its typical crispness or precision. She double-faulted on the first point of the match and did it again on break point, allowing Sanchez Lorenzo to go up 1-0.

By the time the first set ended, Henin-Hardenne had four double-faults — double her total from her first match. She finished the match with eight double-faults, and had only two aces.

She got only 53 percent of her first serves in, and converted only four of her 11 break-point chances. She had 27 winners to Sanchez Lorenzo’s four, but also made 22 unforced errors.

“The conditions were pretty difficult. It’s windy, so you have to stay aggressive all the time,” she said. “When my first serve is in, I win a lot of points. So I need to be very focused on that, and I’m sure I’ll serve better — I hope, next match.”

Muller looked confused and uninspired. While Ginepri knows the left-hander’s game better — the two lost in doubles on Wednesday — Muller wasn’t nearly as sharp. He made a whopping 39 errors to Ginepri’s eight, and won only 58 percent of his first-serve points. He had a measly four break-point chances the entire match, and converted none of them.

Ginepri, meanwhile, broke Muller six of the 10 chances he got.

After being so energetic against Roddick, Muller simply looked lost against Ginepri. After falling behind 3-0 in the second set, he sat with his head buried in a towel during the changeover. When he put yet another forehand into the net, allowing Ginepri to break him and go up 2-1 in the final set, Muller angrily threw his racket to the ground.

On Wednesday, French Open champion Rafael Nadal ground out a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over unheralded American Scoville Jenkins in a rain delayed, second round match.

Nadal needed all his speed to catch up to Jenkins’ drop volleys and baseline shots. The slim difference between the two 19-year-olds in each of the three sets was attributable to the Spaniard’s greater consistency and the price Jenkins paid for his daring. Jenkins hit nearly twice as many winners — 45 to Nadal’s 23 — but had far more unforced errors — 49-13.

One call in the second set made a huge difference. Jenkins was serving at 5-5, 30-love, when a forehand pass by Nadal was called good. Jenkins, standing near the ball, argued that it was wide, and the fans booing the call agreed with him. Replays appeared to show that the ball was, indeed, wide. But the call stood and the rattled Jenkins double-faulted on the next point, then lost two more for the crucial break that gave Nadal a 6-5 lead he didn’t waste.

“He has a very good future,” Nadal said. “I needed to play 100 percent to win this match.”

Jenkins came into the Open courtesy of a wild card and won his first Grand Slam match in the first round after four hours and five sets against Swiss qualifier George Bastl.

Wispy Maria Sharapova was one strong gust away from getting knocked over, though not out, at the US Open.

“I’m really glad I had a piece of chocolate cake last night otherwise I would have been blown away,” she joked. “It made me heavier.”

Nearly as thin as her racket, the top-seeded Sharapova had more trouble with gales up to 36 mph (57 kph) playing tricks with the balls than she did with any of the shots by Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar in a 6-1, 6-0 rout that took all of 49 minutes.

“The first few games I was serving 69 miles per hour,” Sharapova said. “It’s pretty funny. I think it’s even funnier from TV because they can’t see the wind. These people probably think we look like beginners. That’s the sad part.”

A trailing front from remnants of Hurricane Katrina blew through the Open, the sun played peekaboo all day, dark clouds came and went after morning rain, and the lingering heat and humidity continued to test the mettle of players.

Paper and plastic scudded across the courts, umpires’ microphones rumbled with the sound of the wind, and the jets that are often diverted away from the National Tennis Center roared constantly overhead to and from nearby LaGuardia Airport. Lobs that looked as if they were perfect sometimes sailed long, sometimes flew back toward the net. It was a day for double-faults, a day for muttered curses.

Not surprisingly, the top players handled the shifting conditions better. A day after former champion Andy Roddick fell in the first round, there were no major upsets.

No. 4 Kim Clijsters, bidding for her first major title, won again in straight sets, as did two-time former champion, No. 8 Serena Williams and No. 10 seed Venus Williams. In men’s matches, former champ and No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt won in straight sets, and No. 15 Dominik Hrbaty, No. 17 David Ferrer and No. 25 Taylor Dent all advanced.

Sharapova, 18, kidded about gaining weight from a piece of cake but she was serious when asked if she can feel herself growing taller.

“Yeah, I actually do,” she said.

She started the year listed as a 6-footer in the WTA Tour guide, had that changed later to 6-1 in her bio on the tour’s Web site, and recently owned up to being 6-1 1/2 (1.87 meters). Vanity is keeping her from changing that to what might be closer to the truth — 6-2 or 6-3 (1.88 or 1.91).

She’s been listed at 130 pounds (58.5 kilograms) all year and said she wouldn’t mind adding to that a bit.