Venus, Serena bid adieu as Nadal strolls on

The Williams bandwagon rolled out of Roland Garros yesterday when sisters Venus and Serena were humbled in the third round by a pair of tenacious opponents.

A day after the French Open lost three top 10 seeds, including David Nalbandian and James Blake, 2002 champion Serena joined them at the exit queue as she roared and screamed her way to a 6-4 6-4 mauling by Katarina Srebotnik.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match but what can I say? She just played unbelievable today," said Serena, who had gone into the match with a 3-0 career record against Srebotnik.

The fifth seed's defeat also meant a new name would been graved on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup next week as she was the sole former champion in the women's draw.

Exactly nine hours later, Venus completed a miserable day for the Williams clan when the eighth seed was outgunned 7-5 6-3 by Italy's Flavia Pennetta.

In fading light at 2148 local time, Pennetta slammed away a blistering forehand to seal a memorable win.

"When you go on court, you have to believe in yourself," said Pennetta after reaching the fourth round for the first time at the sixth attempt.

Triple champion Rafael Nadal, playing for the fourth day running in the rain-hit tournament, can look forward to a rest day at last after he crushed Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-1 6-3 6-1.

"The good thing is I survived these three matches without losing a set. Tomorrow, I'll be able to recharge the batteries, and then on Sunday I'll be 100 per cent fit," said Nadal.

Nadal's potential semi-final opponent, third seed Novak Djokovic, took a nasty tumble on court but emerged unscathed for a 7-5 6-4 6-2 win over American Wayne Odesnik.

The defeats of Odesnik and the Williamses meant Robby Ginepri remained the sole American survivor in either singles draw.

Serena's loss cleared the way for a final showdown between Maria Sharapova and 2007 finalist Ana Ivanovic, the top two seeds who withstood some fierce resistance before marching on.

An erratic Ivanovic overcame a slight wobble in the first set before downing Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-1 to reach the fourth round, while Sharapova huffed and puffed her way to a 6-2 3-6 6-2 second-round win over American Bethanie Mattek.

Britain's Andy Murray was adamant that he had underlined his claycourt credentials despite succumbing 6-3 6-7 6-3 7-5 to Spain's Nicolas Almagro.

"I proved I'm a good clay court player. To win against me on clay, it is a very good result," said the 10th seed, who had never won a match in the French capital before.

"I'm not someone that's going to be taken lightly on this surface in the future, I don't think."

While Murray's comments sounded rather bold given his record on red dirt, a trio of Frenchmen had plenty to shout about.

Paul-Henri Mathieu, seeded 18th, Michael Llodra and wildcard Jeremy Chardy, who had quelled Nalbandian in the previous round, rode a wave of support to reach the last 16.

Today, they could be joined by Gael Monfils, Florent Serra and Julien Benneteau to make it a record six French men in the last 16 since tennis turned professional in 1968.

Blake's conqueror Ernest Gulbis enjoyed a good win,beating Nicolas Lapentti for a place in the last 16.