Venus Williams Knocked Out of French Open

PARIS (AP) _ Venus Williams was knocked out of the French Open on Friday, losing to fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the third round. <br/><br/>Williams, who reached the final at Roland Garros

Friday, June 1st 2007, 7:55 am

By: News On 6

PARIS (AP) _ Venus Williams was knocked out of the French Open on Friday, losing to fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the third round.

Williams, who reached the final at Roland Garros in 2002 but missed the last two Grand Slam tournaments because of injuries, also lost to Jankovic in the third round at Wimbledon last year.

``I got a little bit tired at the end,'' Williams said. ``It's tough on clay.''

The 22-year-old Serb dominated the five-time major champion in the first set, winning 20 of the 24 points played in her service games, including the first 10.

Williams recovered in the second set, jumping out to 3-0 lead and holding on by breaking Jankovic in the 10th game to even the match. But Jankovic, who reached the semifinals at the 2006 U.S. Open, broke Williams three times in the third set.

``The third set went a little bit faster than what I expected,'' Williams said. ``I felt a little bit slow ... I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them.''

No. 19 Tathiana Garbin of Italy reached the fourth round by beating Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France 6-3, 6-0.

Later Friday, top-ranked Roger Federer was to play Potito Starace of Italy for a spot in the fourth round. Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 champion, and No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko were also scheduled.

Other women's matches were also to include Serena Williams vs. Michaella Krajicek and Justine Henin vs. Mara Santangelo.

On Thursday, the rain came at just the right time for Amelie Mauresmo.

After easily winning the first set in her second-round match against Nathalie Dechy at the French Open, Mauresmo struggled and was forced into a tiebreaker.

But, luckily for the fifth-seeded player, rain delayed play for nearly two hours, allowing the Frenchwoman to regroup and eventually earn a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1 win.

``I came back much better ... really being able to play, and to play the game I know how to play,'' Mauresmo said.

Two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal also advanced, extending his record at Roland Garros to 16-0, while Lleyton Hewitt rallied from a two-set deficit to reach the third round. Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova won in the women's draw.

Mauresmo, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year, had an appendectomy in March, and she's still not feeling 100 percent.

``I felt tight. I felt not good in the match, especially the first two sets,'' said Mauresmo, who missed nearly two months after the surgery.

``In the last point of the tiebreak, I would say that I felt better, I mean physically speaking. I was less tight and tense.''

Nadal, who stretched his latest clay-court winning streak to two, beat Flavio Cipolla 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, breaking the Italian seven times while losing his own serve twice _ once in the third set.

``At the beginning he was a bit nervous. He would make mistakes,'' Nadal said.

Hewitt overturned a two-set deficit for the fourth time in his career, beating 2004 champ Gaston Gaudio 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

The two-time Grand Slam champion had missed two months of action because of a back injury, but he broke Gaudio in the third and seventh games of the third set, and then again to open each of the two remaining sets.

``He's got to be one of the toughest second-round players to play,'' said Hewitt, who lost to Gaudio in the 2004 quarterfinals. ``The first two sets he played fantastic.''

Hewitt made 25 unforced errors in the first two sets, but limited that to 19 in the final three. He also had 20 aces, while Gaudio double-faulted 13 times.

Hewitt and Nadal could face each other in the fourth round at Roland Garros. The Australian lost to the second-ranked Spaniard at the same stage last year.