PARIS, May 30: Australian Pat Rafter, exhaustedby the heat and the consistency of Brazilian Fernando Meligeni bowed out of the French Open in the third round yesterday as claycourt specialists began to take over.The 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 loss was a big disappointment for the Parisian crowd, who have been hoping for the past 16 years to see a serve-and-volley player win once more at Roland Garros.Briton Greg Rusedski, the 12th seed, remains the only man in with a chance of emulating Yannick Noah, the last player to have won from the net on Parisian clay.Rafter's defeat left reigning champion and fourth seed Carlos Moya the highest seed remaining in the tournament, followed by fellow Spaniard Alex Corretja, Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten and Chile's Marcelo Rios all claycourt specialists.Third-seed Rafter looked ideally placed to do well after recent success in tournaments played on the slow surface.But there was little he could do yesterday, apart from earning a reprieve in the third set and saving twomatch points in the next, as he looked far too tired for most of the match to challenge Meligeni.Though ranked a modest 54th in the world, the Brazilian is simply setting his usual standard, having reached the fourth round twice before.WILLIAMS OUT: Venus Williams squandered three match points today before making a shock French Open exit at the hands of Austrian qualifier Barbara Schwartz.The 20-year-old Schwartz won 2-6, 7-6, 6-3 after Williams raced through the first set and put herself in position to walk off court a straight-sets winner.But the jittery American fifth seed was unable to convert any of three match points when Schwartz was serving at 5-6 in the second set. The Austrian eventually forced a tie-break which shemanaged to win 9-7.Schwartz recorded the decisive break at 5-3 in the third set and then held serve for the match, but not before showing sign of nerves herself, squandering two match points before finishing the American off with a blistering backhand winner.In abattle of unseeded Spaniards, Conchita Martinez, three times a semifinalist in Paris, made it through to the final eight, speeding past Gala Leon Garcia 6-2, 6-1.INDIANS ADVANCE: Mahesh Bhupathi joined Leander Paes in moving into the mixed doubles pre-quarter finals of the French Open yesterday partnering Ai Sugiyama of Japan after the Indian duo also entered the same round in men's doubles.The third seeded Bhupathi-Sugiyama pair, combining in the French Open for the first time, came from behind to beat Ann G Sidot and Alex Clement of France 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 21 minutes in the second round at the Roland Garros.Bhupathi and Sugiyama will take on 16th seed Corina Moraru and Sebastian Montana of the United States in the next round.India number one Leander Paes also had a wonderful day at the French Open, making it to the pre-quarter finals of both the men's doubles and the mixed doubles event.Paes and Bhupathi made short work of the French pair of J Lisnard and M Llodra 6-2, 6-4in just 55 minutes before Paes returned to partner American Lisa Raymond for a splendid rally to beat Belgian pair Dominique Van Roost and Tom Van Houdt 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the mixed doubles second round.Paes-Bhupathi, semifinalists here last year, will take on Piet Norval (South Africa) and Kevin Ullytt (Zimbabwe) in the next round.How the Seeds FaredMen's Singles Third round: Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) bt 3-Patrick Rafter (Australia) 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; 8-Gustavo Kuerten (Brazil) bt Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; 14-Felix Mantilla (Spain) bt Tommy Haas (Germany) 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, 6-4Men 3rd Round: Arnaud di Pasquale (Fra) bt Christian Ruud (Nor) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; Andrei Medvedev (Ukr) bt Byron Black (Zim) 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze) bt Andrea Gaudenzi (Ita) 6-3, 7-5, 6-4; Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
