Schiavone overwhelmed by victory

Roland Garros saw its queen dethroned when Justine Henin suffered a shock defeat yesterday but 17th seed Schiavone played like her heir apparent on Philippe Chatrier Court this afternoon, her all-court game simply too much for teenager Wozniacki.

Schiavone won 6-2 6-3 in one hour 20 minutes to become the first Italian woman to reach the last four of a major in the Open era.

The 29-year-old got past the first week of each of the previous three grand slams before arriving in Paris but she had not been in the last eight at Roland Garros for nine years.

So she struggled to contain herself when the moment of triumph arrived, dropping to her knees and kissing the clay.

Comparing the feeling to a "heart attack", she said: "I think in that moment you remember many things from when you were young.

"It's special because it is your space, it is your time, it is your opportunity.

"I felt alone, but with all the love around.

"It's like if I ask you, 'How did you feel when you married?' You say, 'It's not easy to explain'."

Few players can have reached a grand slam semi-final having waited so long to do so.

This is Schiavone's 39th attempt in total but she insisted she never gave up on her "dream".

"The truth is that I always dream," she said. "One of my goals was this.

"But to arrive is different. To live every step before arriving in a semi-final is something.

"I don't have many words to say, because it is emotion, it is feeling, it is something that is coming from the heart.

"I lived some good moments and some bad moments last year and some years ago.

"I think the bad moments helped me a lot to grow up and to learn many things that today, when I was playing, I was thinking about."

Third seed Wozniacki admitted she was beaten by the better player.

"She played with a lot of spin, she didn't make a lot of mistakes, she played aggressively," the 19-year-old said.

"She was playing better than me today. I was always one step behind and couldn't really dominate the way I wanted to."

In an era of baseline battles in the women's game, it was refreshing to see such an all-action approach from Schiavone.

Wozniacki added tellingly: "She didn't play typical women's tennis."

In stark contrast to Schiavone, opponent Elena Dementieva will be contesting her ninth grand slam semi-final.

Her error-strewn match with Petrova could not have been more different either, a real case of survival of the fittest as both players struggled with leg injuries picked up earlier in the tournament.

Dementieva capitalised on her fellow Russian's discomfort to win 2-6 6-2 6-0 in two hours and six minutes.

The 28-year-old two-time grand slam finalist, runner-up at Roland Garros in 2004, said: "I've been in the final and a couple of times in the semi-final and never won.

"This is one of the biggest goals left in my career. This is great motivation for me."

Both players took medical timeouts at 3-2 to Petrova in the first set today.

The 27-year-old, who upset Venus Williams in the last round, admitted she had considered quitting in the decider with a groin injury she picked up in her marathon third-round victory over Aravane Rezai.

She added: "It's just so difficult to quit and walk away because you just want to give it all.

"Anything can happen. On clay, somebody can sprain their ankle and not able to continue."

Paes-Dlouhy in French Open semis

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy remained on course for a second successive French Open title by advancing to the semifinals of the men's double with a straight-set win.

The third-seeded Indo-Czech pair defeated eighth seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland 6-1, 6-3.

Paes and Dlouhy will now take on the winners of the match between Brazilian duo of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares and 10th seeded Austrian-Israeli pair of Julian Knowle and Andy Ram.

In a match lasting barely an hour, Paes and Dlouhy blew away their rivals in the opening set. The Indo-Czech pair converted all the three break points they earned to wrap up the opener in just 23 minutes.

The favourites wavered a bit in the second set, conceding five double faults but with a 100 per cent break-point conversion once again, Paes and Dlouhy sealed it in 35 minutes.

French Open Day 9 Women's Review

Justine Henin was the shock casualty in the round of 16 while Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic made smooth progress.

Four-time champion Henin suffered her first French Open defeat in six years in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

The Belgian, who won three consecutive titles from 2005 to 2007 before an 18-month period in retirement, was beaten 2-6 6-1 6-4 by Samantha Stosur.

The Australian has been a revelation since reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, climbing to a career-high world ranking of seven.

She will face Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

World number one Williams was imperious against Shahar Peer in the fourth round.

Williams watched sister Venus crash out of the women's singles at Roland Garros on Sunday but there was little danger of the world number one following suit as she clinched a 6-2 6-2 victory after one hour and seven minutes on Philippe Chatrier Court.

Meanwhile Jankovic downed Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to cruise into the last eight.

The world number four impressed on Court Phillipe Chatrier as she recorded a 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 25 minutes.

Jankovic, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2007 and 2008, was rarely troubled by the 23rd seed, who made 24 unforced errors in a disappointing display.

The former world number one, looking to clinch her maiden grand slam tournament, wrapped up the win on her first match point when Hantuchova misfired a service return.

The Serbian will now play Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who knocked out Australia's Jarmila Groth in a battle of two unseeded players.

Jankovic hunts down Hantuchova

Jelena Jankovic downed Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to cruise into the quarter-finals of the French Open.

The world number four impressed on Court Phillipe Chatrier on Monday as she recorded a 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 25 minutes.

Jankovic, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2007 and 2008, was rarely troubled by the 23rd seed, who made 24 unforced errors in a disappointing display.

The former world number one, looking to clinch her maiden grand slam tournament, wrapped up the win on her first match point when Hantuchova misfired a service return.

The Serbian will now play Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, who knocked out Australia's Jarmila Groth in a battle of two unseeded players.

Shvedova only lost serve once as she claimed a routine 6-4 6-3 triumph to continue her dream run at Roland Garros.

The 22-year-old, ranked world number 36, had never ventured beyond the third round at any Grand Slam prior to this year's French Open but having defeated eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in round two, she won't be lacking confidence against Jankovic.

French Open Day 9 Men's Review

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic booked their passage into the last eight of the French Open on Monday.

Four-time champion Nadal was stunned by an inspired Robin Soderling in round four 12 months ago, but despite a defiant display on Philippe Chatrier Court, young Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci was unable to repeat the feat.

Despite creating a similar number of break points as his illustrious opponent, the 24th seed was ultimately beaten in straight sets, 6-2 7-5 6-4, as Nadal set up a last-eight clash with Nicolas Almagro.

Nineteenth seed Almagro set up a repeat of his 2008 quarter-final against Nadal by beating Fernando Verdasco 6-1 4-6 6-1 6-4 on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

Almagro, 24, was thrashed 6-1 6-1 6-1 by Nadal two years ago but has taken a set off the world number two in each of their last two meetings, including at this month's Madrid Masters.

Despite Nadal having won all 19 of his matches on clay this year, Almagro said: "If I thought he was unbeatable, I'd pack up and go home.

"I know how to attack him. I did so in Madrid, and at many times of the match. So I'll continue on the same track.

"I do think that this is going to be a much longer match than in Madrid, so I have to be very much focused during the entire match.

"I need to play my best tennis, which is probably what I did today."

Novak Djokovic claimed his second-set slump against Robby Ginepri was down to him not being a "morning person".

Four the third time in four matches at Roland Garros, world number three Djokovic did not have it all his own way early on against Ginepri.

But the Serb eventually woke up to seal a 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2 victory on Philippe Chatrier and set up a quarter-final against 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer.

"I'm really not a morning person, so it took a lot of time for me to get into the rhythm and warm up basically for the match," Djokovic said.

"He was very aggressive from the start. He played well. I was lucky to pull out that first set in my favour.

"Second set, as usual in these tournaments, went the other way for my opponent.

"Unfortunately, I lost focus. But I overcame it.

"With that kind of game I showed in the third and fourth set, I think I have a good chance against anybody on the court now."

Melzer ended Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili's remarkable run with a 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory on Suzanne Lenglen.

World number 114 Gabashvili had not dropped a set en route to the last 16 and completed an embarrassingly one-sided third-round win over Andy Roddick on Saturday.

But despite producing another flurry of winners, he made almost as many unforced errors as the experienced Melzer held sway to reach his first grand slam quarter-final at the age of 29.

Paes-Black advance to quarters

Leander Paes and his partner Cara Black advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open mixed doubles event after a win over Su-Wei Hsieh and Bruno Soares.

The second seeded Indo-Zimbabwe pair beat the unseeded Chinese Taipei-Brazilian duo of Hsieh and Soares 7-5 2-6 1-0 (10/8) in a second round match which lasted 111 minutes and spread over two days.

Rain delay and bad light had forced the match to stop last night after Paes and Black were leading 7-5 0-2.

In the quarterfinals, Paes and Black will take on another unseeded duo of Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and Julian Knowle of Austria.

Partnering with Lucas Dlouhy of Czech Republic, Paes, the lone Indian remaining in the fray in the clay court Grand Slam, has also reached the quarterfinals in men's doubles.

Paes and Dlouhy, the defending champions, will meet Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in the last eight stage.

Henin drained by Stosur defeat

Justine Henin revealed she was emotionally exhausted after slipping to her first French Open defeat for six years.

Four-time champion Henin surrendered a one-set lead to lose 2-6 6-1 6-4 in round four to Samantha Stosur on a stunned Suzanne Lenglen Court as her 24-match winning run at Roland Garros finally came to an end.

The former world number one's last defeat on the Paris clay came back in 2004, after which she won a hat-trick of singles titles before announcing her shock retirement from the game just over two years ago.

This year's French Open was her first since and, despite being less than six months into her comeback, she was widely regarded as one of the favourites for the title.

But her aura of invincibility at Roland Garros faded somewhat when her 40-set winning sequence came to an end in the last round against Maria Sharapova - before being shattered for good today.

Henin, who was playing for a fifth successive day after her last two matches took place across two days, said: "It hasn't been easy, of course, the last few days, to play so many days in a row, even if it's not a full match.

"Emotionally, it was difficult to deal with all these matches. The two matches I had to stop and start again, especially against Sharapova, emotionally probably took a lot from me. It wasn't easy to come back on the court today."

The 27-year-old 22nd seed was nevertheless gracious in defeat, adding: "I just wanted so much that the adventure could keep going.

"I haven't been of course at my best today. Samantha was the best player on the court. She took her chances.

"When you come back at this level after two years off, you know it's not going to be easy to deal with a lot of situations.

"That means I still have to work harder and see it as a big challenge.

"I took this year as a year of transition, so of course it's hard.

"But, in another way, it seems a bit normal. I'll just try to keep a lot of positive things and get focused on the future now."

Australian seventh seed Stosur, who has been a revelation since reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, will now face world number one Serena Williams in the last eight.

Williams watched sister Venus crash out of the women's singles yesterday but there was little danger of her following suit in a 6-2 6-2 victory over Shahar Peer on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 28-year-old struggled to hold serve at times and was broken twice but fashioned an ominous six breaks of her own against an opponent who came close to knocking her out of the Australian Open three years ago.

Williams, who has not reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros since 2003, said: "I seem always to be able to turn it up during this particular stage maybe, the fourth round, for some reason.

"Hopefully, I turn it up again."

Nadal holds off brave Bellucci

Rafael Nadal buried the ghosts of his first French Open defeat by notching up his 200th win on clay and reaching the quarter-finals.

Four-time champion Nadal was stunned by an inspired Robin Soderling in round four 12 months ago, but despite a defiant display on Philippe Chatrier Court this afternoon, young Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci was unable to repeat the feat.

Despite creating a similar number of break points as his illustrious opponent, the 24th seed was ultimately beaten in straight sets, 6-2 7-5 6-4, as Nadal set up a last-eight clash with Fernando Verdasco or Nicolas Almagro.

Brazilian Bellucci was playing at the last-16 stage of a grand slam for the first time, having upset 14th seed Ivan Ljubicic on Saturday.

The 22-year-old lost in the first round to Nadal two years ago in their only previous meeting and appeared keen to show how much he had improved.

His hopes of doing so were dented when he dropped serve in the opening game but he had deuce in the next and broke back with some fine play two games later.

He immediately surrendered his serve from 40-0 up before more errors saw him broken again in game seven, allowing Nadal to serve out the set.

The second set went with serve until Bellucci bounced back from a break in game five, before a double fault in game nine gave Nadal the chance to serve out the set.

The Brazilian raced to 0-40 before converting his third break-back point with a beautiful running forehand, but he dropped serve again amid brilliant counter-punching from Nadal, who served out again.

The topsy-turvy action continued at the start of the third, Bellucci immediately recovering a Nadal break with a cracking backhand before two errors handed the advantage back to the Spaniard in game five, mistakes that ultimately proved decisive.

Serena powers past Peer

Serena Williams stayed on course for the French Open quarter-final with Justine Henin after overpowering Shahar Peer.

Williams watched sister Venus crash out of the women's singles at Roland Garros yesterday but there was little danger of the world number one following suit as she clinched a 6-2 6-2 victory after one hour and seven minutes on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 28-year-old struggled to hold serve at times and was broken twice but fashioned an impressive six breaks of her own to set up a clash with Henin - which would be a rematch of the Australian Open final - or Samantha Stosur.

Today's match was Williams' first grand slam meeting with 18th seed Peer since a remarkable Australian Open quarter-final three years ago, which saw the American fight back from 4-1 down in the deciding set before going on to lift the title.

Williams had won their other three clashes in straight sets but looked in for a difficult afternoon when she lost the first seven points today, dropping serve in the process.

She won the next five to break straight back before Peer dropped serve again in games six and eight.

Both players saved break points early in the second set before Williams made one count in game four.

A brilliant backhand from Peer got the set back on serve but she was unable to hold in the next game and Williams broke her again to love to seal victory.

Novak Djokovic into quater finals

Novak Djokovic stayed on course for a third French Open semi-final in four years after defeating Robby Ginepri to reach the last eight.

Four the third time in four matches at Roland Garros, world number three Djokovic did not have it all his own way early on.

But the Serb put his foot on the gas to seal a 6-4 2-6 6-1 6-2 victory on Philippe Chatrier Court and set up a quarter-final against 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer or Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili.

Djokovic had won all four of his previous meetings with Ginepri without dropping a set, including in the first round at Roland Garros five years ago.

But the American world number 98 arrived in round four having already dumped out two seeds in Sam Querry and 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

He proved more than a match for his opponent in the opening two sets, but was made to pay for his only real slack service game late in the first set.

The 27-year-old made no much mistake in the second, hitting 11 winners to six to break twice and level the match.

But Ginepri was unable to maintain such a high standard, losing the next five games as Djokovic cranked up the pressure.

The Serb then broke twice more in the third to cruise home.

Djokovic will face Melzer in the quarter-finals after the Austrian ended Gabashvili's remarkable run with a 7-6 (8/6) 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

World number 114 Gabashvili had not dropped a set en route to the last 16 and completed an embarrassingly one-sided third-round win over Andy Roddick on Saturday.

But despite producing another flurry of winners, he made almost as many unforced errors as the experienced Melzer held sway.

Murray takes swipe at Roland Garros

Andy Murray believes the French Open could take a leaf out of Wimbledon's book over deciding when a court is fit to play on.

Murray was blasted off Suzanne Lenglen Court by Tomas Berdych in the fourth round, the Czech sealing a comprehensive 6-4 7-5 6-3 victory in a match that did not finish until 9.34pm local time.

That was largely because of a 36-minute rain delay at the halfway mark, which left the court damp and slippery, much to Murray's frustration.

There were repeated verbal outbursts from the world number four over the condition of the clay, the balls and the fading light.

Murray felt play should have been suspended at some point in the third set, claiming tournament officials should cede authority on the matter to players.

"It's easy for someone not playing," said the 23-year-old, who insisted he did not want to make excuses for his defeat.

"You can understand if the crowd want to watch more tennis, normally at an exciting part in the match, if it's 9.30pm in the evening or the supervisor is wanting the matches to finish.

"But sometimes the conditions can become tricky. They have to stop at Wimbledon because of the dew on the court gets very slippery. It's not always because of the light that they stop playing.

"Wimbledon, they do a very good job of that. Here, I don't know."

Murray's second-round match against Juan Ignacio Chela was also dogged by rain and the Scot admitted afterwards he had not dealt with the delays as well as he would have liked.

The hiatus came while he was leading 4-3 in the second set, having not long cancelled out an early Berdych break.

"I had got myself back into the match," he said.

"I don't necessarily think it was anything to do with the way that I handled it.

"It just stops your momentum a little bit. But I still had a little chance at 5-4; I had 30-30. I had a little chance there, I just couldn't take it."

Berdych insisted he was not distracted by Murray's on-court histrionics, suggesting they may have been a ploy to try to put him off.

The Czech 15th seed, who will play Mikhail Youzhny in his first ever French Open quarter-final, said: "My coach told me when the match was suspended, 'He looks like he doesn't want to play'.

"Maybe it's his style that he wants to make the opponent sleep and then he just comes and wins the points.

"But it didn't work."

Murray unhappy with fading light

Andy Murray insisted he should have been allowed to call a halt to his French Open clash with Tomas Berdych.

An angry Murray was blasted off Suzanne Lenglen Court after failing to get to grips with his opponent's raw power, going down 6-4 7-5 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes in what was another rain-affected match that did not finish until 9.34pm local time.

And it was both the fading light and the weather which sparked a succession of furious outbursts from Murray, who was unhappy with the condition of the court following a 36-minute delay midway through the match.

"I don't want to make excuses about the match," said Murray, who nevertheless feels players should decide when matches are suspended due to bad light.

"It shouldn't necessarily be down the supervisor to make the call because he's not the one playing.

"Not every single person's eyesight is as good as another's.

"If one guy doesn't want to play or is finding it hard to see then we should stop.

"You don't normally gain a whole lot by playing an extra 10 minutes or so.

"Maybe just let the players decide if they don't think they can see, they stop. It's only a difference of 10 minutes or so."

The 23-year-old added: "I would have liked to have come off when it was difficult to see. I wasn't the one who complained about it first.

"The balls were gathering a lot of clay. If it's a nice, sunny day, the balls aren't changing colour. The balls aren't brown at the end of the match.

"And it was tough to see at the end."

Murray's frustration repeatedly boiled over on court, the Scot complaining to Cedric Mourier during the rain delay: "The court's wet enough as it is.

"Look at the court rather than the weather."

His mood did not improve when play resumed, screaming, "How are we meant to play when we can't stand on the court?", as well as an expletive before dropping serve at 5-5 in the second set.

That was having broken back before the rain delay.

He said afterwards: "I didn't really get frustrated until the end of the second set. I didn't really say much on court at all.

"I knew against him, you need to expect him to hit a lot of winners, take a lot of chances. You need to try to be solid and stable and make sure that you just hang in there, because you'll get chances.

"I got myself back into it and struggled when we came back out from the rain delay. But he played a good match. He hit a big ball.

"It was very heavy conditions and he was striking the ball really well."

Berdych, whose booming forehand caused Murray all sorts of problems, agreed that the conditions were a problem, saying: "The court was really wet.

"But it's the same for both of us."

The 15th seed posed a very different type of challenge to the Scot's opening three opponents.

The pair had not met for four years - when Murray was still outside the top 50 - with the Czech winning the last encounter to square their head-to-head at 1-1.

Berdych was expecting to face an opponent vastly improved from that performance but was surprised how easy Murray made it for him by repeatedly returning the ball down the middle of the court.

"If it's coming to the centre of the court, it's not tough to read," Berdych said.

"We played a couple of matches together before but it was a really long time ago.

"I was really expecting maybe something different.

"He didn't didn't give me too much pressure in the rallies. I was really comfortable with almost all the points.

"Also, I had plenty of pace to do everything I want and that's why I won in straight sets."

Berdych insisted he was not distracted by Murray's on-court histrionics, suggesting they may have been a ploy to try to put him off.

"My coach told me when the match was suspended, 'He looks like he doesn't want to play'," said the 24-year-old, who will now face Mikhail Youzhny in what will be his first French Open quarter-final.

"Maybe it's his style that he wants to make the opponent sleep and then he just comes and wins the points.

"But it didn't work today for him and I'm happy with that."

Federer: I won't underestimate Soderling

Roger Federer claimed he will face an improved Robin Soderling when they meet again in the last eight on Wednesday.

Federer and Soderling set up a rematch of their 2009 Roland Garros decider by cruising through their respective last-16 matches.

Defending champion Federer came through a mid-match wobble to wrap up a 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 win over fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka on Philippe Chatrier Court, while Soderling followed soon after thanks to an impressive 6-4 6-4 6-2 dismissal of 10th seed Mario Cilic on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

Federer has a daunting 12-0 record against the Swedish fifth seed, beating him at both Wimbledon and the US Open following last year's showdown in Paris.

But the world number one believes he may face a tougher Soderling than before.

"I think he's taken advantage of the better ranking he's had since the last year here," Federer said.

"I've never lost against him, so obviously that's a good record to have. But because of the improvements he's made, he's an opponent not to underestimate.

"He beat incredible players on the way to make the finals here last year, so clay seems to also become really his surface of preference, as well."

Soderling did manage to beat his nemesis in an exhibition match when they last squared off in January.

But Federer, 28, warned: "I don't want to downplay or up-play exhibition matches, but they're there to try out a few things.

"It's always better to win. But, at this stage of my career, I prefer to still try out a few things, because I'll have enough matches down the road where I can't try out too many things."

Federer has cruised into the last eight without dropping a set, while Soderling has surrendered only one.

The 25-year-old believes he has finally cracked the art of winning ugly.

"One or two years ago, I think I could play really good tennis," he said. "My highest level then was pretty much the same as now.

"But I'm winning more matches, and I think I'm winning more matches when I'm not playing my best tennis, which I didn't do so often before. That's the biggest change."

There was real drama on Philippe Chatrier less than an hour after Federer's win when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire from his match against Mikhail Youzhny through injury.

Eighth seed Tsonga, who was the last remaining French hope in the singles at Roland Garros, quit after losing the first set 6-2 in just 30 minutes.

The 25-year-old had been suffering pain related to a recurring back problem during his third-round win over Thiemo De Bakker and he revealed after quitting today that he was in similar discomfort.

"In my last match, I had trouble with my gluteal muscle," said Tsonga, who will have an MRI tomorrow to confirm the precise nature of his injury.

"Today, the first time I ran at the end of the first game - game ball for him when he hit a winning forehand - I blocked and I felt a sharp pain.

"Immediately after, I knew it was the same thing that I had felt in the previous match. It hurt even more."

Tsonga revealed he could have pulled out of the tournament yesterday but was determined to play today, though he admitted more rain and a postponement until tomorrow may have helped him.

"I thought that, of course, if it rained it wouldn't have been bad for me," he said.

"But it didn't rain, so I walked onto the court.

"I did not retire yesterday - walkover yesterday - because I wanted to stay in the tournament. For me, it was important.

"I fought, I tried to go to the end, even with a pulled muscle.

"Unfortunately now, I don't know exactly what is wrong with me."

Henin: Sharapova left me with no choice

Justine Henin admitted Maria Sharapova gave her no choice but to go for broke after fighting back to beat her old rival and reach the French Open fourth round.

Henin recovered from the loss of her first set at Roland Garros for five years to extend her winning run there to 24 matches courtesy of a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory.

Four-time champion Henin looked in real danger of her first defeat in the tournament since 2004 when 12th seed Sharapova had three points for a double-break in the deciding set after the contest resumed this afternoon at one set all.

But the Belgian 22nd seed hit back to win five of the next six games and survive an enthralling two-hour, seven-minute encounter spread over two days on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 27-year-old revealed afterwards she decided to go on the attack at 2-0, 0-40 down in the third set, having made numerous charges to the net at that time.

She said: "I had no choice. Sometimes when you're 0-0, you know you control a little bit.

"But when you're under pressure a little bit, you don't have any other choice."

Last night had seen Henin equal the French Open record of 40 consecutive sets before Sharapova stopped her breaking it by levelling the match.

That was after an atrocious start to the contest from the Russian, who had surrendered her serve twice as Henin moved 4-0 ahead.

But it was a different story this morning, with Sharapova picking up where she had left off yesterday.

Henin, playing her first Roland Garros since 2007 after coming out of retirement, said: "She started the set very good. She's a champion, so as soon as you give her the opportunities - if you play a little bit too short and you don't take the opportunities - she takes them."

Sharapova refused to be down on herself for letting her 0-40 lead slip but felt she should have done better in the next game, which saw her drop serve.

"At 2-1, I was a little bit more tentative than I was in the first three games," she said.

"She started being a little bit more aggressive.

"From the beginning, I felt like I was the one that was more aggressive of the two of us, and that kind of changed a little bit and changed the momentum of the match."

Henin's victory avenged her controversial defeat at the 2008 Australian Open, a match that proved her last at a grand slam before announcing her retirement.

She will now play seventh seed Samantha Stosur in round four.

Federer through in three again

Roger Federer came through a mid-match wobble to wrap up a straight-sets win over Stanislas Wawrinka and move into the last eight.

Defending champion Federer made his most convincing start of the tournament so far but also went close to dropping a set for the first time before sealing a 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 victory in one hour and 56 minutes on a windy Philippe Chatrier Court.

The world number one could now face a rematch of last year's final against Robin Soderling in his next outing, with the Swede in action this afternoon against Marin Cilic.

Today's fourth-round match between Federer and Wawrinka was the first between two Swiss men at this late stage of a grand slam.

Both had enjoyed serene progress to the last 16, with neither having dropped a set.

Federer had made slow starts in his opening three matches but was quickly into his stride today, breaking his good friend in games three and nine to wrap up the first set.

Game eight even saw him unleash a winner with his now famous squash shot.

Wawrinka, who lost his fourth match in five meetings with Federer at this month's Madrid Masters, was in no mood to buckle.

He broke the top seed to 15 in the first game of the second set and impressively held his next three service games.

But a fourth hold proved beyond him, the 20th seed going long with a forehand before netting to hand Federer the break back.

A tie-break ensued, which saw Wawrinka twice lead by a mini-break and twice surrender the initiative.

Another lapse gave Federer set point and he made no mistake, prompting Wawrinka to repeatedly smash his racquet in frustration.

Any hope of a comeback was quickly extinguished when the top seed broke in games three and five of the third set before serving it out.

French Open Day 8 Women's Review

Justine Henin won a one-set shootout against Maria Sharapova while Venus Williams was snet packing by Nadia Petrova

Henin recovered from the loss of her first set at Roland Garros for five years to extend her winning run there to 24 matches courtesy of a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory.

Four-time champion Henin looked in real danger of her first defeat in the tournament since 2004 when 12th seed Sharapova had three points for a double break in the deciding set after the contest resumed this afternoon at one set all.

But the Belgian 22nd seed hit back to win five of the next six games and survive an enthralling encounter lasting two hours and seven minutes, spread over two days on Philippe Chatrier Court.

An inspired Nadia Petrova claimed the biggest scalp of this year's tournament after beating Venus Williams for the first time in her career.

Petrova had lost all four of her previous meetings with the world number two but showed tremendous skill and resolve to seal a 6-4 6-3 fourth-round victory on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 19th seed, who struck an impressive 28 winners and saved six break points today, will play fellow Russian Elena Dementieva for a place in what would be her third Roland Garros semi-final.

Fifth seed Dementieva swept aside the only remaining qualifier left in the draw, Chanelle Scheepers, 6-1 6-3, while third seed Caroline Wozniacki survived a fightback from Flavia Pennetta (14) to win 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

The last eight sees the Pole play Francesca Schiavone (17), who beat defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova's conqueror, Maria Kirilenko (30), 6-4 6-4.

Petrova sends Venus packing

Nadia Petrova claimed the biggest scalp of this year's French Open after beating Venus Williams for the first time in her career.

Petrova had lost all four of her previous meetings with the world number two but showed tremendous skill and resolve to seal a 6-4 6-3 fourth-round victory on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The 19th seed, who struck an impressive 28 winners and saved six break points today, will now play fellow Russian Elena Dementieva for a place in what would be her third Roland Garros semi-final.

Petrova was the villain on Phillipe Chatrier yesterday when she completed an epic two-day 6-7 (2/7) 6-4 10-8 victory over French golden girl Aravane Rezai, saving three match points in the process.

If she was suffering any comedown from that today, the two-time semi-finalist showed little sign in the first set, which began after a brief spot of rain on Chatrier.

After surviving deuce in her opening service game, the Russian cranked up the power in game five to break thanks to some crushing winners.

Williams, who had not faced Petrova in a WTA Tour match since 2003, did have break-back points in games eight and 10 but Petrova refused to yield in sealing the set.

She looked to have handed the American a way back into the match when she finally surrendered he serve in game two of the second set.

But Williams slumped from a winning position in game three to break point, eventually going long with a forehand.

And the second seed lost a crucial seventh game when she netted on a second break point.

Petrova then made it five games out of six to break Williams once more and seal a memorable victory.

Henin battles past Sharapova

Justine Henin recovered from the loss of her first set at the French Open for five years to beat Maria Sharapova.

Four-time champion Henin looked in real danger of her first defeat in the tournament since 2004 when 12th seed Sharapova had three points for a double-break in the deciding set after the contest resumed this afternoon at one set all.

But the Belgian 22nd seed hit back to win five of the next six games and seal a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory after two hours and seven minutes spread over two days on Philippe Chatrier Court.

Last night had seen Henin equal the French Open record of 40 consecutive sets before Sharapova ended the run to level the match.

That was after an atrocious start to the match by the Russian, who had surrendered her serve twice as Henin moved 4-0 ahead.

But it was a different story this morning, with Sharapova picking up where she had left off yesterday.

Her power helped her to two break points in the opening game, Henin going long on the second.

Sharapova should have taken a stranglehold when she got to 0-40 in game three but Henin held after saving four break points in total.

It proved a double-whammy for the Russian, who immediately surrendered her own serve.

Two further errors gifted Henin a fourth game in a row, seemingly completing a remarkable turnaround.

But the Belgian - playing her first French Open since coming out of retirement - crashed from 40-15 on her own serve, her ninth double fault of the match getting the decider back on serve.

A contest which had been notable more for its errors than winners then began to hot up but it was a backhand into the net from Sharapova that handed Henin what proved a decisive break in game eight.

The Belgian held her nerve to serve it out and avenge her controversial defeat at the 2008 Australian Open - a match that proved her last at a grand slam before announcing her retirement.

Henin will play seventh seed Samantha Stosur of Australia in round four on Monday.

Speaking after the match, Henin said: "I had no more choice. Sometimes when you're 0-0, you know you control a little bit.

"But when you're under pressure a little bit, you don't have any other choice."

"She started the set very well. She's a champion, so as soon as you give her the opportunities - if you play a little bit too short and you don't take the opportunities - she takes them."

Sharapova refused to be down on herself for letting her final-set lead slip but felt she should have done better in the next game, which saw her drop serve.

"At 2-1, I was a little bit more tentative than I was in the first three games," she said.

"She started being a little bit more aggressive.

"From the beginning, I felt like I was the one that was more aggressive of the two of us, and that kind of changed a little bit and changed the momentum of the match."