Sharapova scoots into 4th round

PARIS - Maria Sharapova saved her most piercing shriek to punctuate her final shot of the first set, a thunderous crosscourt backhand winner to close out a tiebreaker.

She then dominated the rest of the way Saturday to beat Karin Knapp 7-6 (4), 6-0 in the third round of the French Open.

The top-ranked Sharapova needed 81 minutes to win the opening set. She squandered a lead and fell behind in the tiebreaker, then benefited from some shaky shots by Knapp.

In the second set, Sharapova played her best tennis of the week.

“It was like my twin sister was here, and then Maria actually made her flight and made it for the second set,” Sharapova said. “I definitely became a lot more aggressive and stepped in and didn’t give her too many easy balls.”

With no U.S. women left in the tournament, perhaps Americans can claim 18-year-old Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, who has lived and trained the past two years in Scottsdale, Ariz. The No. 16-seeded Azarenka beat No. 18 Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-1 and has lost only six games in three matches this week.

Azarenka took advantage of Schiavone’s weak second serve, winning 23 of those 28 points. Since the start of the year, Azarenka has climbed in the rankings from 30th to a career-high 17th.

“This year I improved a lot my forehand, which was my weak shot,” she said. “Now it’s like my weapon, which helps me a lot.”

Azarenka will next play No. 4-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who faced only one break point and beat Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1. Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, beat Azarenka in their two previous meetings, both on hardcourt.

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Ginepri ends mini-skid for U.S. men at French

PARIS - Robby Ginepri is easy to spot at the French Open in his oh-so-American getup: black baseball cap turned backward and sleeveless T-shirt.

His game, remarkably, has the feel of someone from somewhere else. He slides across the court comfortably. He plays defense. He waits, patiently, for openings. Even more remarkably, he is into the fourth round at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament, the first man from the United States to reach that stage since Andre Agassi in 2003.

That Ginepri would beat Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday is not necessarily newsworthy, in and of itself. Ginepri is 25 years old, ranked 88th and was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2005; Serra is 27, ranked 94th and lost in the first or second round at each of the previous 13 major championships he entered.

Yet consider this: A week ago, Ginepri owned an 0-5 record at Roland Garros and a 6-24 career mark on clay. He was ranked 171st in January after losing in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open.

“He is back,” Serra said.

Had Ginepri lost, one day after Venus and Serena Williams were sent home, this French Open would have been only the second Grand Slam event in the 40-year history of the Open era at which zero American men or women reached the fourth round. The only time it happened was at the 1973 Australian Open, where, it must be noted, zero American men or women were in the field.

“Last guy standing. It’s a good feeling,” said Ginepri, who shares coach Jose Higueras with Roger Federer. “I would definitely like to have a lot of the other Americans still in the tournament, of course, but really not trying to let that weigh on my shoulders.”

There are other countries finding far more success.

Despite Serra’s departure, for example, five men from France reached the French Open’s fourth round, something that last occurred in 1971.

Federer, the No. 1 man, put himself in the second week at the 16th consecutive Slam by beating Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Ancic was the last player to beat Federer at Wimbledon — back in 2002, before the Swiss star won any of his 12 major titles — but has since lost all five of their encounters.

Federer called himself “the overwhelming favorite” going into his match against one of the French Five, 55th-ranked Julien Benneteau, who celebrated his victory over Robin Soderling by tossing his shirt and sneakers into the stands. Other fourth-round matchups include No. 5 David Ferrer vs. No. 21 Radek Stepanek, and France’s Gael Monfils vs. No. 28 Ivan Ljubicic, who erased a two-set deficit to defeat No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

If Ginepri is to reach his second Slam quarterfinal, he will have to beat 2007 Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez for the first time. Gonzalez, who got past No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets Saturday, won all three previous meetings against Ginepri, though none was on clay.

“I’m going to just keep playing my game the way I have in the last three matches,” Ginepri said, “and hopefully come out on top again.”

He credits his recent turnaround to strategic pointers from Higueras, who guided Michael Chang and Jim Courier to French Open titles, and motivational support from his other coach, Diego Moyano.

“Talking with both of them has really opened up another door with me on the clay court,” said Ginepri, who’s been wearing an odd-looking mix of white and black tape from his right shoulder to his wrist to prevent a triceps injury from acting up. “Before, I really had no clue how to construct points or what type of shots to hit when I was in trouble.”

He limited himself to 18 unforced errors Saturday. Serra had 43.

At 4-4 in the third set, Serra let a 40-15 edge slip away, starting by sailing a forehand long. At deuce, Serra blinked first during a 25-stroke exchange, slapping a forehand into the net. He netted a backhand on the next point to seal the break.

Serving for the match, Ginepri faced three break points — and saved them all, wrapping up a 6-for-7 day in that category. On his second match point, Ginepri scrambled along the baseline to extend the 12-stroke point until Serra sent a forehand wide.

“I’m staying focused throughout the whole, entire match,” said Ginepri, who calls Kennessaw, Ga., home. “Maybe a couple years ago I would have dropped the third set and tried to pull it out in the fourth. So to get through in three today is a great achievement.”

Even better, of course, would be a berth in the quarterfinals, where Federer could await.

What would Higueras do if his two employers were to play each other?

“If that ’problem’ occurs,” Federer said, “I think he’s happy.”

  ALSO ON THIS STORYSharapova scoots into fourth round
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Nadal to face 4th consecutive left-hander in Paris

PARIS (AP) -Rafael Nadal and 19 other left-handers were among the 128 men who entered the French Open. Somehow, Nadal is getting set to face his fourth lefty in four matches.

"Wouldn't be bad to play a right-hander for a change,'' the three-time defending champion said Friday. "But I'm fine with it. You see, I haven't lost a set yet.''

Good point.

The second-seeded Nadal beat No. 26 Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros and improve to 24-0 for his career at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.

That includes a 3-for-3 mark against lefties this year, all in straight sets.

"I mean, it's obviously very hard to beat him if you're left- or right-handed,'' said Nieminen, who dropped to 0-5 against Nadal. "If you are not physically 100 percent, after a while it starts to get mental, as well. It's very tough to play against him.''

Next up for Nadal is No. 22 Fernando Verdasco, a Spanish southpaw who beat No. 15 Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 Friday. Verdasco, who has lost all five career meetings with Nadal, will be trying to reach his first major quarterfinal when they play Sunday.

"He doesn't give you any points. I'll have to be very patient and sometimes you need to fight for all points against Rafa,'' Verdasco said. "So I'll do my best. And if I do my best and lose, so what?''

Nieminen does think left-handers have a slightly better chance against Nadal, because the shots he directs at righties' backhands go to lefties' forehands.

"It's a little bit easier,'' Nieminen said. "But it's still a very tough shot.''

The indefatigable Nadal was looking forward to getting some rest Saturday after having spent time on court four consecutive days during the rainy tournament. His first-round match originally was scheduled for Monday, didn't begin until Tuesday, and then was suspended after two games. He finished that off Wednesday, and played in the second round Thursday.

"It affected me only a bit. The matches were short,'' Nadal said. "Actually, the worst part was waiting to play my first match. It took two days and waiting that long makes you nervous.''

The only sign of any problem Friday came after the second set, when a trainer came out to treat a blister on the bottom of Nadal's right foot. It's something that bothered him during his loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero at the Rome Masters this month, one of only two defeats for Nadal in his past 113 matches on clay.

"It wasn't hurting too much. I asked for treatment just as a precaution,'' he said. "I didn't want a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago.''

Believe it or not, the man often called the "King of Clay,'' wants more chances to play on grass courts.

He complained in Rome about the ATP clay-court calendar being too compressed, and Friday he discussed the limited grass-court schedule.

"Well, the grass-court season is very, very, very short, no? I always say the same, no?'' the two-time Wimbledon runner-up said. "It's not fair: You only have two weeks (to) prepare for (a) very important tournament like Wimbledon.''

This year, the French Open ends June 8, and Wimbledon begins June 23.

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MORE DOUBLES: Maria Sharapova is seeing double at the French Open.

She turned in another 10 double-faults, raising her tournament total to a whopping 27 after only two matches, but managed to pull out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Bethanie Mattek of the United States in a match suspended by darkness Thursday night and finished Friday.

It was considerably more competitive than the last time they met. At a tournament in Charleston, S.C., in April, Sharapova beat Mattek 6-0, 6-0.

"I wasn't going to let that happen again,'' Mattek said. "I remember I called one of my friends, crying.''

Sharapova's shaky serving nearly got her in serious trouble while ahead 3-1 in the third set. She double-faulted twice in a row to gift-wrap a break point, then added a ribbon by pushing a forehand long.

But she wouldn't double-fault again - or lose another game.

There really was only one more test for Sharapova, when she sailed two backhands long and gave Mattek a break point for a chance to get within 4-3. Delivering when she had to, though, Sharapova hit a 114 mph serve to set up a groundstroke winner that erased the break point, ended an 11-stroke exchange with a swinging forehand volley, then closed the game with a 105 mph service winner.

"She's still an intimidating player,'' Mattek acknowledged. "She's still Maria Sharapova, and it's always tough to play against her.''

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EARTHQUAKE RELIEF: A tennis ball autographed by Maria Sharapova and a shirt signed by Novak Djokovic are among the items being auctioned off as part of a project by the ATP and WTA tours to contribute to relief efforts for China's worst earthquake in three decades.

The tours and individual tournaments are donating money, and Roger Federer and Serena Williams also have pledged items for auctions on www.sonyericssonwtatour.com and www.atptennis.com.

Federer and other players, including Peng Shuai and Zheng Jie of China, recorded videotaped messages of support for airing on Chinese national TV.

The confirmed death toll from the earthquake has risen to about 68,000, with more than 18,000 other people missing.

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French Open Show Court Schedules

PARIS (AP) -The show court schedule Saturday for the French Open at Roland Garros:

Play begins on all courts at 0900 GMTCourt Philippe Chatrier
Svetlana Kuznetsova (4), Russia, vs. Nadia Petrova (25), Russia

Maria Sharapova (1), Russia, vs. Karin Knapp (32), Italy

Jurgen Melzer, Austria, vs. Gael Monfils, France

Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Mario Ancic, Croatia

Court Suzanne Lenglen

Francesca Schiavone (18), Italy, vs. Victoria Azarenka (16), Belarus

Lleyton Hewitt (25), Australia, vs. David Ferrer (5), Spain

Olga Govortsova, Belarus, vs. Elena Dementieva (7), Russia

Julien Benneteau, France, vs. Robin Soderling, Sweden

Court 1

Zheng Jie, China, vs. Dinara Safina (13), Russia

Jelena Jankovic (3), Serbia, vs. Dominika Cibulkova (28), Slovakia, comp. of susp. match

Robby Ginepri, United States, vs. Florent Serra, France

Nikolay Davydenko (4), Russia, vs. Ivan Ljubicic (28), Croatia

Agnes Szavay (12), Hungary, vs. Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic

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French Open Show Court Schedule

Serena upset by Srebotnik at French Open

PARIS - For Serena Williams, missed chances came in a flurry.

She shanked overheads, hit wild volleys and squandered six break points Friday at the French Open. The result: a stunning third-round loss to Katarina Srebotnik, 6-4, 6-4.

This was Williams’ earliest exit in nine visits to Roland Garros and guarantees a first-time women’s champion. Williams, who won the French Open in 2002, was the lone former champion to enter the draw.

“I missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of key points that I felt like could have turned the match around,” a subdued Williams said. “I wasn’t able to capitalize.”

No. 1-seeded Maria Sharapova and No. 2 Ana Ivanovic advanced. In the completion of a second-round match halted in the second set Thursday because of darkness, Sharapova beat American Bethanie Mattek 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Ivanovic reached the fourth round by beating 17-year-old Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-1.

Williams, who played the day’s first match on Court Suzanne Lenglen, converted only one of seven break-point chances and was 0-for-5 in the second set. She repeatedly set up points but failed to finish them, losing 14 of 21 at the net.

“There are a lot of things I would try to do different, but you can’t rewind time,” said Williams, who also lost in the third round at Roland Garros in 1999.

Her mother and coach, Oracene Price, said Williams has “been in a funk. It’s not like her. She wasn’t herself.”

Srebotnik, seeded No. 27, earned the biggest victory of her career. She has only one win over a player ranked higher than the No. 5-ranked Williams, beating No. 4 Amelie Mauresmo at Zurich in 2005.

Williams didn’t play like a top player. In the final game of the first set, she dumped an easy overhead into the net. Four points later, she worked her way forward but blew a volley, then bent over in dismay and pressed her forehead against the tip of her racket handle.

Another botched overhead cost her in the sixth game of the second set, helping Srebotnik to reach 3-3.

“I wasn’t nervous,” Williams said. “She was getting a lot of balls back, and I might have let that get into my head. She was just making some shots I don’t think she’s ever made before, or she probably would be in the top two.”

When Williams fell behind she turned up the volume, grunting with almost every shot and screaming in celebration when she hit a winner. But she was unable to rally, and her 27-year-old opponent kept her cool down the stretch.

“Today I woke up and it was just another opportunity,” Srebotnik said. “This is what you work so hard for — to be in third round where you play Serena or someone like that and you have really nothing to lose.”

Srebotnik credited her tactics for the upset, mixing the pace of her ground strokes to keep Williams off balance.

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PARIS - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal showed what they can do when challenged.

The two highest-seeded men at the French Open had tougher-than-expected first sets Thursday, and both responded by reeling off game after game to move into the third round.

Although Federer wasn’t broken, he lost the first set in a tiebreaker before beating Albert Montanes of Spain 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. Nadal faced a close call in the first set, but the three-time defending champion still beat Nicolas Devilder of France 6-4, 6-0, 6-1.

“It was tough going down a set, but reaction was good and bounced back strong,” Federer said. “Played really well after that.”

Seventh-seeded James Blake lost to 19-year-old Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (2), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and sixth-seeded David Nalbandian was upset by Jeremy Chardy of France 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.

“I wasn’t going for the shots the way I normally do,” Blake said.

In a pair of routs, No. 5 David Ferrer beat Fabrice Sabtoro of France 6-0, 6-1, 6-0, and No. 16 Victoria Azarenka defeated Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea 6-0, 6-0.

Nadal improved to 23-0 at the French Open. The second-seeded Spaniard was leading 5-0 in the second set when rain returned to Roland Garros for the fourth time in five days. When they came back on court, Nadal broke Devilder to take a two-set lead and then jumped to another 5-0 lead in the third.

“The second and third sets were very good,” Nadal said. “What’s really important is that I’m in the third (round) and improving with each match.”

Devilder, who broke once in the first set, held his serve in the sixth game of the third set, running the Spaniard all over the court and tapping a volley into an empty space. As the crowd cheered, the Frenchman raised his hands to celebrate.

But six points later, Nadal was into the third round.

Nadal has won the last three French Open titles, defeating Federer in the final the last two years. He is trying to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1978-81 to win the clay-court Grand Slam tournament four years in a row.

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Venus, Jankovic reach third round of French

PARIS - At 6-foot-1 and with those long arms, Venus Williams can make for an imposing presence up at the net when she decides to play there.

Although she doesn’t usually venture forward that much, things were different Thursday at the French Open.

The No. 8-seeded Williams played much better in the second round than in the first, using plenty of success with volleys to beat 241st-ranked qualifier Selima Sfar of Tunisia 6-2, 6-4.

Williams made 25 unforced errors to Sfar’s nine, but made up for that by winning the point on 24 of her 35 trips to the net.

“It’s really nothing planned. I just really feel comfortable at the net, and I don’t know why. I just do. I like it up there, so I do try to get there when I can,” said Williams, who lost the 2002 French Open final to her younger sister Serena. “It’s just finally kicked in. I should always have been there, years ago.”

She needed three sets to get through her opening match at Roland Garros. And she didn’t start well against Sfar, getting broken to fall behind 2-1.

“I just tried to improve literally on every point I’m playing out there, just to play better every point, play better every match,” Williams said.

She quickly erased the early deficit by putting together a six-game run, not dropping another game until she was ahead 1-0 in the second set.

“You know,” Sfar said, “it’s not easy when you’re playing Venus.”

Williams’ third-round opponent will be No. 26 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who eliminated 16-year-old qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

“She is obviously really good and works super hard,” Williams said about Pennetta, “so I’ll just be ready to just try to play some better tennis than what she does.”

Other women moving into the third round with straight-set victories Thursday included No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, No. 7 Elena Dementieva, No. 13 Dinara Safina, and No. 16 Victoria Azarenka, whose 6-0, 6-0 victory over Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea of Romania was the first “double bagel” at the French Open since Serena Williams did it to Barbara Schett in 2003.

Seeded losers included No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 21 Maria Kirilenko, and No. 22 Amelie Mauresmo, a two-time major champion.

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