Young gun Nadal has Federer on his guard

Federer said: "They are very different but Richard's got the crowd behind him this week. It will be interesting because they are up and coming. It is going to be better than a third round match for them."

The teenagers have become friends and have been complimentary about each other in the buildup to their match.

Nadal, the nephew of Spanish football international Miguel Angel Nadal, has the confidence advantage of having won five tour titles already this year.

His success has earned him the world ranking of No5 and made him a favourite in Paris on his debut here.

But Gasquet, in less impressive form this year, is not intimidated. He said: "I can hit harder than he does, but it is not easy to move him around the court. I will have to play a fantastic match to win and need to be extremely focused. It's special to play Nadal because we have always been compared.

"There are a lot of expectations of me but you play tennis because you want to have people with you."

Meanwhile, Andy Roddick will not give up on the French Open despite another bitter disappointment.

The No2 seed went out in the second round to Argentine Jose Acasuso after throwing away a two-set lead. He has reached round three at Roland Garros only once in his last five attempts. His departure after Andre Agassi's early defeat means the United States are left without a man in the third round for the second successive year.

Roddick said: "Right now it stings. I don't think any of us Americans are happy. We all have a lot of pride and it's gotten taken down a lot in the last couple of years here.

"I was about as prepared as I've ever been coming in. It's the most challenging surface for my game and takes away a lot of my strengths."