Srebotnik slams Serena

Serena Williams trudged out of Roland Garros on Friday after her French Open dreams were pounded into the red clay by a tenacious Slovenian...

Serena Williams trudged out of Roland Garros on Friday after her French Open dreams were pounded into the red clay by a tenacious Slovenian who never lost belief.

Less than 24 hours after the tournament saw the defeat of three top 10 seeds, including David Nalbandian and James Blake, the American joined them at the exit queue as she roared and screamed her way to a 6-4, 6-4 mauling by Katarina Srebotnik in the third round.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match but what can I say? She just played unbelievable today,” said Williams, who had gone into the match with a 3-0 record against Srebotnik.

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The fifth seed’s defeat also meant a new name would be engraved on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup next week as she was the only former champion in the women’s draw.

Triple champion Rafael Nadal, playing for the fourth day running in the rain-hit tournament, can look forward to a rest day at long last after he crushed Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.

No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic beat Wayne Odesnik 7-5, 6-4, 6-2, which left Robby Ginepri as the only American in the men’s draw.

Williams’s loss cleared the way for a final showdown between Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, the top two seeds who withstood some fierce resistance on Friday before marching on.

Overcoming wobbles

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An erratic Ivanovic overcame a slight wobble in the first set before downing Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-1 to reach the fourth round, while Sharapova huffed and puffed her way to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 second-round win over American Bethanie Mattek.

But no amount of on-court dramatics could save Williams. Srebotnik had the younger of the Williams sisters on the backfoot from the start, breaking her with a string of stinging winners and things went from bad to worse for the former world number one.

She could have made amends at 4-3 up in the second as she had break point but a bizarre choice of shot, choosing to hit a drop shot when she had an open court at her disposal, put paid to those hopes. Srebotnik punished Williams’s lack of judgement by sealing the match two games later.

After being two points from defeat in her opening match against fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, Sharapova again dropped the second set against Mattek.

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However, in a match left hanging in the balance overnight after fading light aborted play, she regained her poise to make a third-round date with Italian 32nd seed Karin Knapp.

Blake’s conqueror Ernests Gulbis won again, beating Ecudor’s Nicolas Lapentti for a last 16 place. (Reuters)

Paes-Dlouhy through

Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy defeated the Argentinian pair of Jose Acasuso and Sebastien Prieto in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. The ninth seeds are now in the third round.