Henin Loses To Stosur

PARIS: Betrayed down the stretch by her best stroke, the backhand, and by her usually steely nerves, four-time French Open champion Justine Henin lost to Australia’s Sam Stosur 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round, ending her 24-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

Thanks to her 2005-07 titles at the French Open, and then the time away during a brief retirement, it had been six years since Henin felt the sting of a loss at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament ― all the way back in 2004′s second round.

Seventh-seeded Stosur, a French Open semifinalist last year enjoying a tour-best 18 wins from 20 matches on clay this year, was aiming higher.

“Obviously, beating Justine is going to give me lots and lots of confidence for the next match,” the Australian player said. “That’s obviously a great achievement for me, but it’s not over yet. I’m just in the quarters and going to play the No. 1 player in the world next.”

That would be Serena Williams, who stumbled at the start before cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 18 Shahar Peer of Israel. Williams dropped the first seven points of the match, then immediately took nine a row and was on her way.

The other quarterfinal in that half of the draw will be No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia against 36th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. Jankovic beat No. 23 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2, while Shvedova eliminated 107th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia 6-4, 6-3.

In men’s fourth-round matches, four-time champion Rafael Nadal improved to 200-16 on clay over his career by overcoming four breaks of serve to defeat No. 24 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. A year ago, Nadal lost in the fourth round ― he was 31-0 at Roland Garros before that stunning exit against Robin Soderling ― but he insisted that didn’t make him any more careful this time.

Now Nadal will meet No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, who knocked off No. 7 Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. Also Monday, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia eliminated American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 22 Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat 114th-ranked qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

“I feel prepared every year, and I always dive out in the quarters,” Williams said. “I’m just trying to get past that this year, hopefully.”

She owns a 3-1 record against Stosur, including a victory at January’s Australian Open. Stosur’s win came on a hard court at Stanford, California, last year, and Williams was hardly complimentary afterward, saying: “She had a lot of lucky shots; she’s a good framer.”

In Tuesday’s quarterfinals, defending champion Roger Federer was to face Robin Soderling in a rematch of last year’s final. Other matchups were No. 11-seeded Mikhail Youzhny against No. 15 Tomas Berdych, No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki against No. 17 Francesca Schiavone, and No. 5 Elena Dementieva against No. 19 Nadia Petrova.