Henman fluent in French class

Not since Roger Taylor in 1973 had a Briton advanced this far in the heartland of claycourt tennis, and Henman8217;s win lifted him into his first Grand Slam quarter-final outside of Wimbledon.

The gloom for French fans deepened when Nicolas Escude pulled out of his match against third seed Guillermo Coria with an injured shoulder having lost the opening set 6-0.

France8217;s Olivier Mutis had already been beaten 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, 6-2 by Juan Ignacio Chela, the Argentine Henman plays next.

However, women8217;s third seed Amelie Mauresmo provided some much-needed cheer. The Frenchwoman smashed Magdalena Maleeva 6-2, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals here for the second successive year.

Mauresmo has suffered from crippling nerves at her home Grand Slam in the past but on Sunday played a sublime match to line up a showdown with Russia8217;s Elena Dementieva.

Ninth seed Dementieva pummelled former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport 6-1, 6-3.

Women8217;s second seed Serena Williams advanced in straight forwad fashion. Wearing a pink zip-up cropped-top, the American pulverised Shinobu Asagoe 6-3, 6-1.

She will next face either Jennifer Capriati or Francesca Schiavone.

While Henman advanced the hard way, Coria could hardly have had an easier passage.

The Argentine, the highest seed left in the men8217;s tournament following the early exits of defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero and American Andy Roddick, clinched the first set against Escude in 25 minutes before his opponent quit.

Coria, a semi-finalist last year, will next meet the winner of the fourth-round match between Spaniards Carlos Moya and Tommy Robredo.

Like Coria, Mauresmo also had it easy. Her victory over the 21st seed was her easiest of the tournament and allowed her to equal her best performance at Roland Garros.

Following wins this season in the leading two claycourt tournaments before the French Open 8212; in Berlin and Rome 8212; Mauresmo has established herself as a favourite in her home Grand Slam.

8220;I just played a great tennis,8221; Mauresmo said.

8220;You know, I felt that my game again is getting better and better as the matches are going8230; I made it probably look easy.8221;

First she will have to overcome ninth seed Dementieva, who was in cracking form against Davenport.

She was in charge from the start and Davenport, with a sore right knee taped, quickly slumped out of the only Grand Slam she has yet to win.

Dementieva was joined by another Russian, Maria Sharapova. The 17-year-old, originally from Siberia, has yet to drop a set in the tournament and she swept aside Marlene Weingaertner 6-3, 6-1. Reuters