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PARIS: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic stayed on
course for a French Open semifinal showdown on Friday as Serena and
Venus Williams both crashed out of Roland Garros at the third round
stage.
While the American sisters, with
14 Grand Slam titles between them, were packing their bags,
women’s top seeds Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic remained on
track.
Nadal, bidding to emulate Bjorn
Borg as the only man to win four successive Roland Garros titles,
needed treatment on his blistered right foot before brushing aside
Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
He will now face compatriot, and
fellow left-hander Fernando Verdasco, for a place in the last eight.
Third seed Djokovic, the
Australian Open champion, enjoyed a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 win over
America’s Wayne Odesnik and will play French 18th seed Paul-Henri
Mathieu, who put out Eduardo Schwank, the last of 19 Argentines who
started the tournament, in four sets.
Sharapova, the top women’s seed
who is seeking a French Open to complete a career Grand Slam,
dropped a set for the second match in a row before seeing off
colorful American Bethanie Mattek 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the third
round.
But it was a miserable day for
the Williams sisters.
Serena’s eighth Roland Garros
appearance came to a disappointing end losing 6-4, 6-4 in the third
round to Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik to suffer her earliest
Roland Garros exit since playing as a 17-year-old in 1999.
Venus, who lost the final in 2002
to her little sister, was then knocked out in the gathering gloom
shortly before 10 o’clock at night (2000GMT) by Flavia Pennetta.
The 26th seeded Italian goes on
to face Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in the
quarterfinals. It was the 26-year-old Pennetta’s best performance
in seven Roland Garros visits.
World’s No. 2 Nadal, who has
now won all of his 24 matches, has played four days in succession, a
consequence of the havoc brought to the program by torrential rain
earlier in the week.
“The foot was blistered and I
suffered a little bit. But I didn’t want what happened a week ago
to happen again,” said Nadal, who suffered the same problem in a
shock Rome Masters defeat.
“I am happy to survive. I will
have a day off on Saturday and that will be very important.”
Nadal was joined in the last 16
by fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro after the 19th seed ended
Britain’s Andy Murray’s hopes 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5.
Almagro will tackle French
wildcard Jeremy Chardy, the world 145, who put out Russian 30th seed
Dmitry Tursunov.
Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who
beat American seventh seed James Blake in the second round, reached
the last 16 for the first time with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 win over
Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti.
Gulbis, at 19, is the youngest
player left and he will now face Frenchman Michael Llodra who served
and volleyed his way to a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over
Italy’s Simone Bolelli.
 --AFP
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