Serena eliminated

Champion Serena Williams was dumped out of the Australian Open third round yesterday by Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

Seeded 13th this time, Williams lost 6-1 7-6 to join her 10th-seeded sister Venus who fell on the opening day. The only time Serena has lost earlier than this at any grand slam was in the second round in Melbourne in 1998.

"I just made a lot of errors today," the American said. "I just couldn't find my shots at all."

Williams briefly threatened a comeback when she saved three match points to force the second set into a tiebreak but 17th seed Hantuchova regained her composure to pull off one of the biggest wins of her career.

"It means a lot... finally I can say I am able to play and beat anyone and I am just so happy," Hantuchova said.

The reward for Hantuchova's victory is a fourth round meeting with fourth seed Maria Sharapova who led the Russian charge on a day when scorching temperatures transformed the first grand slam of the year into a survival of the fittest.

Sharapova kept her cool as the mercury soared to 40 degrees Celsius, forcing tournament organisers to invoke the extreme heat rule, but the blazing sun took its toll.

Top seed Lindsay Davenport and men's second seed Andy Roddick, both playing in the hottest part of the day, survived while Justine Henin-Hardenne and David Nalbandian won their matches after having the benefit of playing under the closed roof.

Williams and Hantuchova's match was played at night, also under the closed roof.

Play was suspended for two hours on the outside courts because of the searing heat then for a further three hours because of an afternoon thunderstorm.

Sharapova, playing first on the centre court, beat the worst of the weather by racing to a 6-0 6-1 win over Croatia's Jelena Kostanic.

Eighth seed Henin-Hardenne defeated Virginie Razzano of France 6-4 6-1 while Roddick was also in a hurry to escape the sun, blasting aside Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-1 6-2 6-2 to set up a fourth round clash with Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

"On days like today where it is pretty hot, you just try to get through," the American said.

"I don't really focus on the time of matches. I'm just glad I'm hitting the ball well."

Fourth seed Nalbandian remained on course to play Roddick in the semi-finals after beating Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 2-6 6-3 6-2 7-5.

Nalbandian's Davis Cup team-mate Gaston Gaudio was less fortunate. Scheduled to play the first match on the Vodafone Arena before the roof was shut, he visibly wilted in the heat, losing 6-3 6-2 5-7 1-6 6-4 to Fabrice Santoro.

Sharapova was joined in the fourth round by three fellow Russians, former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, sixth seed Nadia Petrova and Elena Vesnina.

A fifth Russian, Maria Kirilenko, lost 6-4 4-6 6-2 to Davenport, while a sixth, Anastasia Myskina plays today.