Webber to blame for Red Bull crash?

Tensions within the Red Bull racing team appear to have heightened after a crash between teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber during Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix.

The calamitous incident allowed McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to claim a victory despite Red Bull having led the race up until that point.

Fueling rumours of a feud between the drivers, Red Bull team strategist Helmut Marko backed the Vettel overtaking move that resulted in the coming together, implying that Webber was in the wrong.

 "He (Vettel) had to attack otherwise he would have got overtaken by Hamilton (who was in third place)," Marko said.

"Vettel was already ahead, at least two metres ahead, and there was a corner to the left side coming so he had to go for the line. Vettel was so much faster that he had to pass. " Marko concluded.

The 41st lap crash was shrouded in confusion.

Vettel, attempting to pass Webber on the inside, was marginally as he turned right to get a line into the looming corner, but he slammed into Webber, sending both cars spinning out of control.

The disastrous episode put Vettel out of the race, while Webber, who had been leading the Grand Prix, quickly pitted to repair some damage but was only able to finish third.

Vettel expressed his frustrations after the race, and defended his move to try and overtake Webber.

"If you watch it on the TV, you can see what happened. I'm not in the happiest of moods. I was on the inside going into the corner." Vettel claimed.

"We were all on the same pace during the race, I think I was a bit quicker than Mark for two or three laps, I was catching him and thought I could get him on the back straight."

"Mark's car hit my rear right wheel and I went off - there's not much more to say. This is something that happens, no one needs it, but there's not much you can do now."

Webber, who leads the Drivers' Championship with 93 points, defended his move, claiming he was surprised by Vettel's attempted move.

"Sebastian had a bit of a top speed advantage, he went down the inside and we were side by side. I was surprised when he came right suddenly, as I was holding my racing line. It happened very, very fast and it's a shame for the team. Not an ideal day", The Australian said.

"We've got great character in our team and two fast drivers at the front - we're not dicing for 15th and 16th - we're going for victories so there's clearly a lot at stake. I'll have a chat with Sebastian about it, we might have a difference of opinion but we'll be adults about it and press on."

"Neither of us wanted to make contact with each other. It's obviously not ideal, but it happened. In the end it wasn't the result that either of us wanted"

The crash allowed Lewis Hamilton to take first place, and set up a McLaren one-two that seemed unlikely before the incident.

Hamilton: I'm grateful for Red Bull crash

Lewis Hamilton was left grateful for Red Bull Racing's disastrous duel that turned him into a race-winner again.

Hamilton stood on the brink of equalling the worst winless drought of his Formula One career if he had not triumphed in the Turkish Grand Prix.

But after nine races without a win, Hamilton took the chequered flag at Istanbul Park, spearheading a McLaren one-two ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.

Sebastian Vettel's lap-40 collision with team-mate Mark Webber cost Red Bull their own one-two, the team collecting just 15 points for the Australian's eventual third instead of the 43 that were on offer.

Red Bull could potentially have been 43 points clear of McLaren in the constructors' standings if their drivers had swept the top two steps of the podium, but instead they are a point adrift of their rivals.

With the perfect vantage point to witness the accident as Hamilton was tailing Vettel at the time, he said: "It was great to watch.

"It was like an action movie in HD or 3D. It was fantastic. It was right ahead of me. I got the best view of it.

"It's the last thing you want to see, and fortunately Sebastian is safe.

"But I just saw Sebastian go up the inside and Mark hold his line.

"I don't think he really had much room to move to the right and I don't think there was necessarily a reason for Sebastian to try to move to the right.

"I think it was unfortunate for them, but all I can say is that it was fortunate for us because we've been working hard all year.

"I think myself and Jenson have deserved to be at the front row for some time, and so today was good."

Hamilton was cheered on for the first time this year by Pussycat Doll girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger, who was reluctantly dragged into the post-race celebration team photo in which all the McLaren personnel wear rocket-red victory t-shirts.

"I just got so excited in the garage," said Scherzinger, who was jumping up and down at times during the race's events.

"But I'm just so proud of him."

The 31-year-old could now be adopted as Hamilton's lucky mascot as the 2008 world champion added: "Every time she seems to come I seem to win.

"It was Monaco 2008 she was there, and then Hungary and Singapore last year, so she is definitely a little bit lucky for me I think."

Hamilton and Button did cause their own moment of consternation at the end of lap 49, and the start of lap 50, when they diced for the lead, even touching wheels at one point.

Button initially managed to squeeze past his team-mate into Turn 12 before losing out for good on the run down to Turn One as Hamilton reclaimed the lead.

"I'm sure they were biting their nails all the time," said Hamilton in reference to the likes of team boss Martin Whitmarsh and Paddy Lowe, the director of engineering, on the pit wall.

"But it was a really fair battle with him, and a great result for the team."

Hamilton: It was an exciting race

Lewis Hamilton was in exuberant mood after winning his first race of the season at Istanbul, Turkey on Sunday.

A happy Hamilton said: "It was quite an exciting race actually. "We knew we had great race pace, but they (Red Bull) had such pace through Turn Eight that we couldn't slipstream, other than that I was on his tail.

"Then I had a problem with the right rear at my pit stop and I lost a place to Vettel.

"I don't know what happened to these guys (Red Bull), but we got through and then I had a great battle with Jenson.

"I'd like to dedicate this win to my dad (Anthony) as it's his 50th birthday. It's a great way for him to celebrate."

Button added: "It was good fun, but then after Lewis got past I was into fuel save mode as well.

"The race was a lot quicker than we thought it would be, but three weeks ago who would have though we would battle with the Red Bulls like we have."

As for Webber, he bit his tongue in describing what happened with Vettel as he said: "Seb had top-speed advantage.

"He then went down the inside, we were side by side, it looked like he turned quick right and we made contact.

"It's a shame for the team and not an ideal day. It can happen sometimes and when you are at the front it's difficult.

"There was a long way to go into the race, so it wasn't a guaranteed victory, but it was an interesting few metres on the track between us."

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.

Modi to reply to second notice today

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi is set to reply to the BCCI's second showcause notice today.

Modi had responded to the first show cause notice over allegations of murky financial deals in the IPL and bid-rigging with a voluminous reply on May 15.

Abdi had on Friday said Modi was on course to meet the May 31 deadline for replying to the second show cause notice served on him for his alleged acts that are “detrimental to world cricket”.

“We intend to meet the deadline for replying to the second show cause notice as we did for the first,” Abdi told reporters.

“The volume of the reply depends on the issues raised. I don’t think the reply would be as voluminous (as the first). We will try to satisfy the Board (with the reply),” Abdi said.

Modi sought and obtained a 10-day breather for replying to the second show cause notice from the Board. He was issued the notice on May 6 on the basis of an e-mail received from England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Giles Clarke.

In his e-mail, Clarke levelled serious charges against Modi which the Board found “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and World cricket at large”.

The notice referred to Modi’s March 31 meeting in Delhi with representatives of English counties Yorkshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire in which he allegedly talked about a parallel IPL in the England and Wales in which eight existing franchises would bid for nine counties in UK.

“You have allegedly discussed this as a commercial proposition...and also set out that IPL would guarantee each county a minimum of USD 3-5 million per annum plus a staging fee of USD 1.5 million if the counties supported this idea,” the BCCI notice said. 

“You have allegedly offered a structured deal, by which the returns would be shared 80:20 between the franchises and the counties, a player model based on the IPL model and offered inducement to gather the rest of the county members to support your ideas and goad them to overpower their own governing bodies,” it said.

“You have allegedly planted a seed of thought of players’ revolt if the governing bodies of respective cricket boards do not allow them to participate in this extended version of IPL,” it added.

“It challenges not just the authority of BCCI but also (that of) ECB and suggested that IPL would henceforth literally shift to the hands of the franchises and the respective national governing bodies would be forced to watch helplessly while the game and the power of administration are hijacked,” Srinivasan said in the notice.

Abdi said the Board was yet to reply to Modi’s recent 14-page letter to BCCI president Shashank Manohar asking both him (Manohar) and secretary Srinivasan to recuse themselves from any future proceedings against the suspended IPL Commissioner.

“But I’m quite optimistic they would respond,” Abdi said.

Asked about the future course of action, including legal ones, if the response was not favourable to Modi, Abdi said, “Let’s wait and see. Let’s not pre-empt the matter”.

Modi had launched a scathing attack on Srinivasan in his letter to Manohar, saying the BCCI Secretary should not be part of the panel adjudicating charges of financial irregularities against him.

In his letter, Modi said Manohar too should stay away from the proceedings, since it would “tantamount to being a judge, witness and a potential co-notice” in the case.

Modi alleged Srinivasan had grossly misused his power as BCCI secretary and said there was a clear case of “conflict of interests” since he was also owner of the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL.

Amla century makes it 4-0 for South Africa

South Africa 304 for 3 (Amla 129, de Villiers 57*, Kallis 51) beat West Indies 303 for 6 (Chanderpaul 66, Richards 59, Darren Bravo 45*) by seven wickets

	Hashim Amla eased to his second century of the series

It really shouldn't have got so close. South Africa appeared to have the match in the bag while Hashim Amla was at the crease and for a while after too, but somehow found a way to press the pressure button and take the game to the final ball. Some inept West Indian fielding towards the end, and lack of intensity in pushing for an unlikely win, let them down and it was left to AB de Villiers to steer the more deserving team home.

The required run rate soared to 8.60 at the end of the 45th over, when South Africa had to take the mandatory batting Powerplay. Two missed chances in the outfield gave South Africa a breather and it came down to the final over, when the visitors needed a more manageable three. The scores were level after the first two balls, but Dwayne Bravo tightened the noose in the next three. de Villiers pushed the third to mid-on, shouldered arms outside off to the fourth expecting it to be a wide before failing to dig out a yorker. The infield was packed and the din around the ground increased with the expectation of a great escape. de Villiers squirted the last ball to Darren Sammy at short midwicket, who ought to have effected an easy run-out but failed to gather the ball and fluffed a throw at the stumps.

Though both teams made blunders under pressure towards the end, West Indies had more wounds to tend to, primarily because of an underwhelming display in the field. With both Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor out injured, they lacked a raw quick bowler to hurry the batsmen with bounce on a good batting pitch, and the support cast of medium pacers were ineffective with the new ball. South Africa exploited that weakness for the most part and it seemed that only complacency could cost them the game, which it almost did.

Their response to 303 was set up by Hashim Amla, who was at the centrefold spread again with an ice-cool century, his second in the series . His is not a commercially driven slam-bang approach which would make IPL scouts sit up and watch. He relies more on conventional strokes and a risk-free approach, accelerating according to the match situation and picking up singles whenever possible. He battled exhaustion, scored the bulk of his runs in singles - only 30 of his runs came off boundaries when he reached his century - and could have batted till the end if his body allowed him.

Using the crease, Amla drove through the covers, played short-arm pulls, cut past backward point and even scooped Sammy for six over long-off. West Indies set innovative fields for Graeme Smith - placing two short midwickets - but not for Amla. Having taken so many runs off them in the series so far, West Indies could have identified a weakness and forced him to do something different, but instead just went through the motions. The intensity dropped after Smith's dismissal as Amla calmly collected the singles and reached his fifty, off 45 balls.

He took charge of two stands of 59 and 119 with Smith and Jacques Kallis respectively, and continued grafting it out till he neared his century. A squirt to backward point got him there, but he was already running low on battery, squatting on the pitch whenever he had a breather. He tried hitting out to conserve energy, but eventually fell to a tired shot to long-off. As he trudged back, South Africa were still in control with 80 needed off nearly 12 overs with seven wickets in hand.

They were lucky to have an in-form de Villiers at the crease, but the man at the other end, JP Duminy, wasn't as fluent. West Indies plugged things back to such an extent that they didn't concede a boundary for close to nine overs. The required rate soared to nine before de Villiers eased the pressure with a paddled-four off Ravi Rampaul. Duminy was let off twice, first by Dwayne Bravo and then Darren Bravo. An 18-run over off Kieron Pollard tilted the game back in South Africa's favour before fortunes oscillated again till the final ball.

The drama overshadowed what was an impressive comeback by the West Indian batsmen after the third ODI. It was a lesson in crafting an ideal one-day innings - start off aggressively, consolidate in the middle overs and keep wickets in hand and then let loose in the slog overs. The three main players in each of those phases were Dale Richards, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, who dictated terms in different styles to take West Indies to 303 and give the Sunday crowd at Windsor Park a match to watch.

Richards compensated for Chris Gayle's failure with an attacking knock, using the crease well to unfurl elegant shots down the ground. The South Africans were disciplined through the middle overs to peg West Indies back, but importantly, the duo of Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo were prepared to see off the period by grafting, instead of letting the frustration get to their heads.

West Indies took the Powerplay in the 45th over and the pair of Darren Bravo and Pollard inflicted maximum damage in a stand of 59. Darren Bravo, who has a style to match Brian Lara with his trademark high backlift and stylish foot movements, punctuated the passage of play with carved boundaries over extra cover and a one-handed six over long-off. Pollard, under pressure to deliver for West Indies, brought out a couple of monster hits off Charl Langeveldt to take West Indies towards 300.

Unfortunately, it was a day the hosts couldn't get their batting and bowling to click in cohesion and as the series rolls into the final dead rubber on Thursday, the same questions on skill and commitment will be asked.

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.

Rohit ton seals comfortable win

India 243 for 3 (Rohit 101*, Kohli 82) beat Sri Lanka 242 (Mathews 75, Dilshan 61) by seven wickets 

	Virat Kohli played a mature knock, adding 154 with centurion Rohit Sharma

What stood out was the ease with which India overhauled Sri Lanka's 242, with nearly seven overs to spare. Virat Kohli played a matured hand and Rohit Sharma overcame moments of impetuousness to hit a delightful hundred, his second successive effort of the tournament, as the pair sparkled in a 154-run partnership to charge India to a facile win.

It has to be said, though, that it was a good toss to win. Overnight rain had left enough moisture on the pitch in the first half of the day to offer assistance to the seamers and also to the spinners. And Sri Lanka were forced to adopt a brand of cricket that smelt of 80s: Start slowly, build momentum in the middle overs, reach a run-rate of four by the 40th, and try to hit out in the end. They ended up on 242, which wasn't a bad effort, but the conditions eased up in the afternoon and the Indians played very sensibly to overhaul the target with ease.

Nearly all the Indian batsmen, barring Rohit, who had brief moments of rashness, eschewed flamboyance for a risk-free approach. Kohli in particular. There was just one shot in anger when Kohli put away a short googly from Ajantha Mendis to the midwicket boundary. For the most part, he dealt in nudged singles as he used his wrists to ping the vacant spaces. He used the width of the crease well, going either fully back or leaning forward, to tackle the different lengths. Later, he unfurled the big shots: an inside-out hit, a pulled boundary and whippy on-drive.

Unlike Kohli, Rohit took more risks. Some appeared almost needless, especially at the start. He rushed down the track for a slog against Thissara Perera, nearly hit Mendis for a catch to long-on and drove Suraj Randiv uppishly on a few occasions. However, he survived those iffy moments to settle down to play a few typically stylish hits. Two stood out for their skill and beauty: He sashayed down the track and lifted Randiv inside-out over covers. He then flicked Perera from just outside off stump wide of mid-on for a gorgeous boundary. He later pulled Dilhara Fernando and lofted Randiv for sixes and brought up his ton with a cut against Mendis. It was 47 for 2 when he had joined Kohli and he led India to a victory with plenty to spare.

If India had Rohit and Kohli, Sri Lanka's innings was all about Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews. Dilshan had laid the platform with an out-of-character 61 before Mathews showed characteristic maturity during his 75, which led Sri Lanka's charge.

It was yet another cool and collected innings from the rapidly-maturing Mathews. He was on 51 at the start of the batting Powerplay and had only hit two boundaries until then. Amit Mishra slipped in couple of long-hops and Mathews targeted the midwicket boundary for a six and a four. The pitch and the situation had demanded he play risk-free cricket and he duly obliged. For the main part, he drove, nudged and worked the angles to rotate strike. He used his height to get forward and smother the turn and his wrists to nudge spinning deliveries for singles. And it was only during the final assault that he brought out the big shots: the inside-out lofted drive over covers, the fierce pull and the slog-sweeps were unfurled as he led Sri Lanka towards 250.

The conditions demanded such an approach: The medium-pacers got movement and also exploited the two-paced nature of the wicket and the spinners found generous turn to keep the batsmen quiet. Not only Mathews but Dilshan also adopted a sensible approach, though perhaps it might have been dictated by his recent run of poor form.

It wasn't the Dilshan we have come to know. He hit his first boundary off his 35th ball and it wasn't until his 50th delivery that he chose to rush down the track to play a big shot. It was his abstinence against the new ball that really stood out, though. There weren't many flamboyant on-the-up hits, dashes down the track or attempts to force the pace. He did try to play couple of aggressive shots against the new ball but, when he found that he was mis-timing them, he quickly changed tack and started to work the angles.

It was looking good for Sri Lanka but Dilshan ran himself out in the 24th over to allow India to come back into the game. He turned Mishra to midwicket, hesitated before deciding to go for the single, and couldn't beat the throw from Rohit Sharma. It proved to be the turning point of the game; it meant the difference between Sri Lanka reaching 275 and ending up, as they did, with less than 250.

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."

Hamilton leads McLaren 1-2 as Red Bulls self destruct

The champagne flies after the McLaren 1-2 

Lewis Hamilton led home team-mate Jenson Button for a McLaren 1-2 in the Turkish Grand Prix, capitalising on a collision between the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel as the pair appeared on course for another dominant victory.

Webber recovered to take third but looked livid on the podium as he reflected on what might have been. The incident happened entering turn 12 on the 41st of 58 laps as Vettel had a run on Webber down the long back straight and attempted a move up the inside for the lead. Webber pushed Vettel close to the grass but the German kept his foot in and then drifted back across the track for the entry to turn 12. The pair clipped wheels with Vettel coming off significantly worse and suffering a rear puncture and suspension damage that put an end to his race.

The McLarens took the lead as a result, but the race was far from over. After Hamilton and Button had been told to save fuel, Button attempted a move on Hamilton into turn 12. Hamilton put up a fight and they went through the next two corners wheel-to-wheel. Button managed to hold the lead out of the final part of the chicane but Hamilton had a better exit and barged his way back past into turn one. Button had to concede ground and ran a wide to avoid an accident. A curt reminder to the pair over their radios ensured the remaining laps were less eventful.

From that point onwards the action at the front died down and Hamilton, Button and Webber held formation to finish one-two-three. In fourth was Michael Schumacher with a season best result ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg. Robert Kubica finished a respectable sixth for Renault and, although he looked quicker than Rosberg at times, never got a run at the Mercedes for position.

The end for Sebastian Vettel after his collision with Mark Webber 

Ferrari's Felipe Massa had a quiet race to seventh, one place ahead of team-mate Alonso, who pitted early from 12th to move up through the field and eventually finish eighth. To gain the last position he had a very tight battle with Vitaly Petrov, in which the Renault rookie came off worse and had to pit for a new front tyre.

Adrian Sutil recovered well from a slightly disappointing qualifying position to score two points for Force India in ninth. He pulled an impressive move on Kamui Kobayashi in the closing stages to take tenth, making use of the long back straight to slipstream the Sauber into turn 12. Kobayashi eventually finished in the top ten but only after Petrov's accident dropped him down the field. Outside the points, Pedro de la Rosa acted as a rear gunner to his Sauber team-mate and held off Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso in the final laps.

Only four other cars retired alongside Vettel, with both HRTs ending their races in the garage and the two Lotuses succumbing to hydraulic faults.

Turkish Grand Prix 2010

	Drivers	Teams	Points
1	LC Hamilton (GBR)	McLaren	25
2	J Button (GBR)	McLaren	18
3	M Webber (AUS)	Red Bull	15
4	M Schumacher (GER)	Mercedes	12
5	N Rosberg (GER)	Mercedes	10
6	R Kubica (POL)	Renault	8
7	F Massa (BRA)	Ferrari	6
8	F Alonso (ESP)	Ferrari	4
9	A Sutil (GER)	Force India	2
10	K Kobayashi (JPN)	BMW Sauber	1
11	PM de la Rosa (ESP)	BMW Sauber	-
12	J Alguersuari (ESP)	Toro Rosso	-
13	V Liuzzi (ITA)	Force India	-
14	RG Barrichello (BRA)	Williams	-
15	V Petrov (RUS)	Renault	-
16	S Buemi (SUI)	Toro Rosso	-
17	N Hülkenberg (GER)	Williams	-
18	T Glock (GER)	Virgin	-
19	L di Grassi (BRA)	Virgin	-