Mauresmo subsides on Paris clay again

Amelie Mauresmo once more crumbled like a clay figurine at the French Open yesterday, beaten in the fourth round by a Czech teenager nearly 10 years her junior.

Nicole Vaidisova embarrassed the world number one 6-7 6-1 6-2, exposing the mental fragility of the 26-year-old Frenchwoman who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals of her home grand slam.

Earlier Dinara Safina upset fellow Russian Maria Sharapova while men's world number one Roger Federer and women's second seed Kim Clijsters strolled into the last eight.

Mauresmo's latest failure, however, overshadowed it all. Vaidisova lost 6-1 6-1 to Mauresmo at the same stage of the Australian Open which the Frenchwoman won in January but nothing comes easily to her in Paris and after leading 5-2 in the first set she was gripped by an all-too-familiar loss of nerve.

She scrambled through the tiebreak but after that barely won a game as Vaidisova's fearless hitting left the 15,000 mainly French supporters packed into the steepling centre court dumb with deja vu.

By the end Mauresmo's face was taut with fear, and Vaidisova put her out of her misery with a conclusive backhand winner. Almost guiltily, the 17-year-old Czech dropped her racket and fell to her knees as if to ask forgiveness from the crowd.

Her opponent was in shock. "I had a little feeling of exhaustion in the second and third sets and she was serving much better than me while I was not able to hold my serve," said Mauresmo.

"It's disappointing but I think I still have to improve on clay. Maybe people shouldn't expect much of me on clay."

Safina won a ferocious Russian catfight against Sharapova to reach her first grand slam quarter-final. She looked beaten when she trailed 5-1 in the final set but the 20-year-old rattled off six successive games to complete a spectacular 7-5 2-6 7-5 victory over the 2004 Wimbledon champion on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

"She picked up her game a little bit and mine went down - it's not a good combination," a miffed Sharapova said. "You go into a different world and you make dumb decisions."

Federer strolls past Berdych

Federer looked distinctly more comfortable on centre court than Rafael Nadal had the previous day, purring to a 6-3 6-2 6-3 win over Tomas Berdych. The Czech player beat Federer at the 2004 Olympics but although he briefly led 3-0 in the third set, the Swiss reeled off six games in succession to keep his quest for the only grand slam title he does not possess on track.

"I felt very calm and I had a good feeling here today," he said. "From here on my form is only going to get better."

In the last eight he plays Croatian Mario Ancic who overcame cramp and threw up before knocking out Spanish seventh seed Tommy Robredo 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-4 7-5.

Venus Williams kept American interest in the singles alive when she recovered from a slow start to beat Switzerland's Patty Schnyder 4-6 6-3 6-2. She will play Vaidisova in the last eight.

Clijsters raced through to a probable showdown with Martina Hingis when she thumped slender Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-4. Clijsters is yet to drop a set.

Defending women's champion Justine Henin-Hardenne beat 2004 winner Anastasia Myskina of Russia in straight sets, 6-1 6-4.

Safina faces another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the last eight. Kuznetsova beat Italian ninth seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6 6-4 6-4.

Russian Nikolay Davydenko, a semi-finalist last year, knocked out 2004 champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3,to reach the last eight.

Two men's third round matches were completed and French 19-year-old Gael Monfils reached the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time with a 6-2 6-7 7-6 5-7 6-4 upset of the last American in the men's singles, eighth seed James Blake.

Blake was generous in his praise of the teenager. "He's the best athlete I've played against," he said.