Eight Women Slam Winners Featured Sunday at French Open
The seeded women at the French Open continued their quest Saturday to show the huge gulf between the upper and lower echelon players on the WTA Tour in third-round play, with defending champ and No. 5 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne baking a bagel in a win over Tathiana Garbin, No. 12 Martina Hingis pounding Ivana Lisjak 6-1, 6-1, and No. 32 Gisela Dulko likewise beating American Shenay Perry 1-and-1.
"I can only gain from this week, this tournament, I really have nothing to lose," said the two-time runner-up Hingis. "I feel comfortable playing here in Paris, on clay. The crowd was great. I couldn't ask for more right now."
No. 2 Kim Clijsters (d. (26) Medina Garrigues) led the remainder of the seeds into the fourth round, joined by (31) Shahar Peer (d. (6) Dementieva), (10) Anastasia Myskina (d. (19) Ivanovic), (13) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. (20) Kirilenko), and (15) Daniela Hantuchova (d. (21) Dechy 10-8 in the third).
"It was important for me to try and step in and not let myself get drawn behind the baseline," Clijsters said. "Once you start going there, she can move you from side to side."
On court Sunday are (1) Mauresmo vs. (16) Vaidisova, (2) Clijsters vs. (15) Hantuchova, (5) Henin-Hardenne vs. (10) Myskina in a battle of former French Open champions, (4) Sharapova vs. (14) Safina in an all-Russian showdown, (8) Kuznetsova vs. (9) Schiavone, (7) Schnyder vs. (11) Venus, (13) Groenefeld vs. (32) Dulko, and (12) Hingis vs. (31) Peer.
"Justine is a normal person who can do mistakes," Myskina said. "Not easy ones: She's not going to give you any free points, but she still can miss. I know that I can win the match if I'm going to play my best. I just need to believe in myself and be strong."