Tennis: Maria Sharapova Reaches 4th Round of French Open Tennis Tourney

02 June 2007 -- Two-time major tournament winner Maria Sharapova of Russia has reached the fourth round of the French Open in Paris, but fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France has been knocked out of the clay-court tournament.

Sharapova, the second seed, defeated Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia, 6-1, 6-4. Sharapova next plays Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, a three-set winner over Italian Karin Knapp (6-1, 4-6, 7-5).

Mauresmo lost her third round match to Czech player Lucie Safarova in straight sets (6-3, 7-6). Safarova next plays ninth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, a straight-sets winner over Ai Sugiyama of Japan (6-4, 6-4).

In men's third-round action, Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden, the oldest man in the singles, qualified for the fourth round at Roland Garros with a four-set win over Spain's Oscar Hernandez (6-7, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1). The 35-year-old Bjorkman faces either 1998 champion Carlos Moya of Spain or Argentina's Juan Pablo Brzezicki.

Meanwhile, 16th-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus advanced when his opponent Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic retired with a shoulder injury (6-2, 6-2). Baghdatis plays Russian Igor Andreev, a straight-sets winner over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (7-6, 6-0, 6-3).

In the women's draw, third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia scored a 6-2, 6-3 win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. The Russian next plays Israel's Shahar Peer, a three-set winner over Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia (6-1, 4-6, 6-3). Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia defeated Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2, 6-0.

Later in men's play, two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain takes on compatriot Albert Montanes in a third-round match. Lleyton Hewitt of Australia faces Finland's Jarkko Niemenen, and Fernando Verdasco of Spain plays 12th-seeded countryman David Ferrer.

Source: VOA News

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