Venus, Ljubicic Lose; Federer Road Gets Rocky at French Open

"Am I discouraged? No, not at all," said Williams, who made more than twice the unforced errors as her opponent. "I feel like I'm playing well, actually. I don't feel like she came out there and really beat me."

The stats, and the reality of Williams slowing down in the third set and Jankovic's ability to move her opponent around, say different.

"Each time you play the Williams sisters, it's really a tough game," Jankovic said. "And you have to be on the top of your level if you want to beat them. I was really moving her around, and probably she got tired."

U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison, speaking to the AP, ageed.

"Her energy just wasn't there at the end," Garrison said after the match.

Venus attributed running out of gas to over-training.

"I just got a little tired, and I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them, so then I had some errors early," the elder Williams said. "I think that's what happened in the third set. I would have liked to have moved forward a little bit more. On my days off, I think I've just been training too hard. I'll have the court for one hour, and then no one comes, and I'll hit for two, so I've got to scale back and not be an overachiever."

In the vein of the Williams sisters attributing their losses to their poor play rather than their opponent's skill, Serena chimed in upon hearing the result of her sister's match.

"She obviously probably didn't play her best," summed up the younger Williams sister, who was a straight-set winner Friday over Dutch prodigy Michaella Krajicek, sister of former Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek.

Serena is now the last American, man or woman, remaining in singles.

"Serena is playing great tennis, and she plays well in a crunch," Venus said. "And I think the longer she's in the tournament, the better she'll play."

Other seeded winners Friday were (1) Justine Henin (d. (28) Santangelo), (6) Nicole Vaidisova (d. (27) Stosur), (10) Dinara Safina (d. (23) Schiavone 6-1 in the third), (12) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Poutchkova), (18) Marion Bartoli (d. (13) Elena Dementieva), (19) Tathiana Garbin (d. Cohen Aloro, bagel in the second), and (20) Sybille Bammer (d. (16) Li).
 
Scheduled for Saturday play are (2) Maria Sharapova vs. Alla Kudryavtseva in an all-Russian encounter, (5) Amelie Mauresmo vs. (25) Lucie Safarova, (7) Ana Ivanovic vs. Ioana Raluca Olaru, (9) Anna Chakvetadze vs. (21) Ai Sugiyama, (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Dominika Cibulkova, (15) Shahar Peer vs. (17) Katarina Srebotnik, (12) Daniela Hantuchova vs. (24) Anabel Medina Garrigues, and on Court 7 getting no respect (14) Patty Schnyder vs. Karin Knapp.

Ljubicic, Ferrero Exit French Open, Nadal Up Today

Two minor upsets featured on the men's side Friday at the French Open where red-hot Italian Filippo Volandri outlasted the clay-challenged No. 7 seed Ivan Ljubicic in five sets, and Mikhail Youzhny knocked out former Roland Garros champ Juan Carlos Ferrero in four sets.

The No. 29-seeded Volandri, still riding the emotional wave from beating world No. 1 Roger Federer earlier in the claycourt season, came back from 1-2 sets down for a 6-4, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, besting his career-mark third round effort at Roland Garros in 2005.

The No. 13-seeded Youzhny lost the first set before topping Ferrero. The Spaniard has lost a step since 2003 when he won Monte Carlo, Roland Garros, and stood atop the ATP Rankings briefly.

Other seeded winners Friday were (1) Federer (d. Starace, bagel in the third), (4) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Llodra), (9) Tommy Robredo (d. Tipsarevic, bagel in the third), (15) David Nalbandian (d. Monfils in four), and (19) Guillermo Canas (d. Vliegen in four).

"I didn't make any mistakes," said Federer after finishing his match with a 6-0 flourish.

The only unseeded player into the fourth round Friday was Argentine Juan Monaco, who straight-setted Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Second-round winners in all-unseeded matches were Russian Igor Andreev (d. Massu in four) and French hope Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. countryman Simon in four).

On court Saturday on the men's side at Roland Garros are Mathieu vs. Andreev, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. Al Montanes in an all-Spanish match-up, (16) Marcos Baghdatis vs. Jan Hajek, (6) Novak Djokovic vs. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, (23) Carlos Moya vs. Juan Pablo Brzezicki, (14) Lleyton Hewitt vs. Jarkko Nieminen (punter upset alert!), Fernando Verdasco vs. (12) David Ferrer in another all-ESP, and Jonas Bjorkman vs. Oscar Hernandez.
 
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro got worked Friday by Tathiana Garbin 6-3, 6-0, but the Frenchwoman says she has no need for a coach since splitting with Nathalie Tauziat eight months ago: "The coach tells you what you have to do, but there are things you have to feel for yourself. All I want is to feel well mentally. Whether I have coaches and people running around and yelling around me or standing...I honestly don't care." -- Good luck with that, seems to be working out well...U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe on his mission to change the international competition, speaking to the ATP Queen's media: "I love the Davis Cup, it's a great event but it has the potential to be even greater...I think we should change the format, make it an every other year event, and I would like to see a final four situation in Davis Cup, where the final four teams go to a site for the finals over a 10-day event. Then it could be promoted all year. It would make it a bigger event if it was every other year, like the Ryder Cup in golf."...From the Brunei Times: "Gisela Dulko, dubbed Argentina's Anna Kournikova, played in the mixed doubles with Chilean Olympic gold medallist Fernando Gonzalez here last year, reaching the quarter-finals. They lost but Cupid struck and they became an item. "I feel safe and certain with Fernando," cooed Dulko of her partner."...The WTA Tour is preparing a system to introduce background checks for the entourages of its players, with coaches targeted. Officials met during the French Open to discuss the plan, which would apply to coaches, agents, trainers and family members. A WTA Tour source told the Globe and Mail that the measures are designed to "enhance the safety, security and well-being of the players," but the plan has become controversial since tennis players are "free agents" and some are bristling at the intrusion...Venus Williams hit the fastest recorded serve in French Open history, topping out at 129 mph earlier in the week. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy holds the record with a 130 mph blast...Roger Federer is the first player to reach seven straight Grand Slam finals (going into the French) since Jack Crawford in 1933-34...Mario Ancic, who hasn't competed since February due to mono, has pulled from Queen's Club...Roger Federer says he keeps up with the daily results at the French Open, and his pick to win the women's title is Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova: "I like her game. She plays well...I want to have a look at the results at the end of the day. I just want to be informed of the highlights of the day, to know what has happened during the day."...Rafael Nadal's typical meal at the French Open: "My typical gambas (prawns), which I love; olives, which I also like a lot, and a plate of pasta."...No tennis players on SI.com's "The Fotunate 50," their ranking of the Top 50 American athlete money-earners. Roger Federer is No. 3 on the "International 20," Maria Sharapova is No. 8 -- but where was Rafa?...Italian Filippo Volandri, who beat Roger Federer earlier this year on clay, on the key to topping the Swiss: "Pull your bandanna over your eyes, and swing away."...Bob Bryan on why the Americans struggle on clay in singles: "Americans are waiting for the claycourt season to end -- and the others are looking forward to it."...Rafael Nadal in his French Open blog: "I've never had any complaints about the crowd here...Maybe the translation error after last year's final had some influence. I remember that I started my speech congratulating Roger Federer, saying that I was very happy and proud to have beaten him and that he might be the best tennis player of all times. The translator (which we know well because he's also in Monte-Carlo and at some others tournaments) didn't understand well what I said and translated the opposite, which would mean that I was the best player of all times, etc. Afterwards he came to the locker room and said that he was sorry about the mistake. He didn't have his best day. That happens to all of us. The case is that maybe the crowd still remembers that, but well, I don't think that it's a big deal."...Greg Garber writing for ESPN: "When it comes to playing tennis on clay, the United States has become a third-rate power. Put them in the B bracket, along with countries like Cyprus (Marcos Baghdatis), Israel (Shahar Peer), Finland (Jarkko Nieminen) and Romania (qualifier Ioana Raluca Olaru) -- countries that also have one player left in the men's and women's singles draws."...Tennis blogger Peter Bodo on one of the poorest movers on clay, Maria Sharapova: "OK, let me climb right out on a limb here, spit on my palms, and get sawing: Maria Sharapova is going to win the French Open. It may not be this year, and it will take a little bit of luck -- like not having to play both of the women against whom her chances are dim, Justine Henin and Serena Williams. One she might be able to handle; beating both might be a bridge too far. Some of you are still wiping up the Coke you blasted onto your keyboard through your nose when you read my prediction; what am I going to do next, tout Andy Roddick's chances in Paris?"...From the quarterfinals on, Roger Federer could face three players in Paris who have already beaten him this year: Filippo Volandri in the quarters, Guillermo Canas in the semis and Rafael Nadal in the final...From Tennis.com's blogging Steve Tignor: "PS: Someone should tell the Tennis Channel's Chanda Rubin that commentating on a tennis match means talking about both players, not just the one from your country. She barely mentioned [Jelena] Jankovic at all, which meant there was way too little information coming from the booth about what the winner of the match had done to, you know, win the match."