Pushed to three sets for the third match in a row, Lindsay Davenport refused to wilt in the 29?C heat, yesterday.
The top-ranked Davenport survived her toughest test yet at the French Open and beat unseeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Davenport's fourth-round opponent will be two-time runner-up Kim Clijsters, who defeated No. 20-seeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2.
Clijsters has beaten Davenport in their past six meetings. They'll play each other on clay for the first time.
"I'll definitely have to still raise my game a lot more if I want to keep winning," Clijsters said.
A victory over Clijsters would put Davenport in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1999 at Roland Garros, the lone Grand Slam title she has yet to win.
Davenport advanced by overcoming another slow start, 10 double faults and the unseasonable weather to win in 2 hours.
Razzano broke serve for 4-all in the final set, but Davenport regained the momentum on the next point by hitting one of the best shots of the match, a running backhand winner into the corner.
Two double faults by Razzano, who had 15 in the match, cost her the game. Davenport slammed three winners to serve out the final game for the win.
Against Hantuchova, Clijsters faced her stiffest test so far and still won in straight sets. Clijsters has swept six sets in three matches, losing just 10 games while spending barely three hours on court.
Hantuchova played Clijsters on even terms for much of the first set until the Belgian served it out, smacking a forehand winner on the third set point. She raced to a 5-1 lead in the second set and closed out the win in 1 hour, 22 minutes.
"I've practiced with her a billion times," Hantuchova said, "and she proved all the time to me that she's one of the best players in the world, if not the best at the moment."
Ranked No. 1 in 2003, Clijsters is seeded just 14th after missing much of last year with a wrist injury. Now recovering from a knee injury three weeks ago, she moved well despite a wrap on her right leg.
"It's holding up during my matches," she said. "But it's still not good enough to play without the tape. It's getting better -- you know, maybe 85 or 90 percent."
Clijsters had 29 unforced errors but also hit 23 winners. Hantuchova had 37 errors.
"It probably wasn't the best tennis," Clijsters said. "At the end, I think that's where I was a little bit more aggressive."
Davenport won despite committing 57 unforced errors and losing her serve six times. The sloppy, seesaw match was so even that midway through the third set, each player had won 100 points.
For the third match in a row, Davenport started badly, committing 16 errors as she lost the first four games. It took her 26 minutes to win a game, but she rallied for 4-all.
Razzano committed four unforced errors to lose serve, giving Davenport her first lead at 6-5, and she then served out the set.
Razzano again raced to a lead in the second set, this time 4-1. Davenport rallied to 4-all but double-faulted to lose the set.
Roddick falls
Unable to close out a big lead on a muggy afternoon, Andy Roddick became entangled in a marathon and stumbled yet again on the French Open clay. He lost in the second round to stubborn Argentine Jose Acasuso 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6 on Thursday.
"I hate it," said Roddick, whose record at Roland Garros fell to 4-5. "I want to do well here so badly. It just hasn't happened. Especially losing matches like this, it doesn't help."
The match began in 30 C sunshine and ended 3 hours, 21 minutes later. Both weary players required leg massages from a trainer during fifth-set changeovers, but both came up with brilliant shots down the stretch.
Acasuso hit more.
"It's a five-set match," he said with a smile. "And I made the most of it."
James Blake and Vince Spadea joined Roddick on the sideline, meaning that for the second year in a row -- and for just the second time in more than 30 years at a Grand Slam event -- no American men made it to the third round.
Former champion Justine Henin-Hardenne shrugged off a sore back to advance on the women's side. Other winners included Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, and US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Men's Australian Open champ Marat Safin advanced to play Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open winner, and Guillermo Coria, the 2004 runner-up, won when 18-year-old Serbian qualifier Novak Djokovic retired with respiratory trouble in the third set. Djokovic said a sinus problem has bothered him for about a year.
Few considered Roddick a title threat despite his No. 2 seeding, and the latest loss suggested he's becoming increasingly confused about how to play on clay.
His big serve was negated by Acasuso, who had more aces, 20 to 13. And Roddick repeatedly found himself driven into the corner in long rallies, leaving the court open for Acasuso to smack a winner.
Acasuso, ranked 62nd, earned his second win over a top-five player this spring. He beat Marat Safin last month in Barcelona.
With his latest upset, the Argentine advanced to the third round at a major tournament for the first time in 16 events. When it was over, he sank to the court in exhaustion and jubilation, and to his surprise, Roddick climbed over the net to shake hands.
"He really knew how to lose," Acasuso said.
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