Federer in, Djokovic crashes out

Roger Federer needed four sets to reach the last 16 at the French Open yesterday, but in the biggest upset of the tournament to date fourth seed Novak Djokovic crashed out.

The Swiss second seed, who came through against home favourite Paul-Henri Mathieu 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4, was not at his best but once again he managed to dig himself out of trouble when he needed to.

Djokovic was totally out of sorts falling 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in a Court One shocker.

The French started the day with five players in the bottom half of the draw and they ended it with just two, but in best friends Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga they have the players many believe could end the long, painful wait for another home winner of the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

Monfils had too much firepower for Jurgen Melzer winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, while Tsonga blasted his way past Belgium's Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Andy Roddick and German veteran Tommy Haas also made it through, both against French opponents, while top South American hope Juan Martin del Potro scored a comfortable 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 win over Igor Andreev of Russia.

Federer, who struggled at times in his second round tie against Jose Acasuso of Argentina, again looked below par against the dangerous Mathieu.

But after dropping the first set, he broke serve early in the second and used that as a platform to take control of the match.

In women's singles, ten-time Grand Slam title winner Serena Williams angrily denounced her Roland Garros opponent as a 'cheat' as two of the world's top 10 crashed to shock defeats.

Williams, the 2002 champion, defeated Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last 16 but fourth seeded Russian Elena Dementieva and Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki, the world number 10, were third round casualties.

Williams's win was overshadowed by an incident in the first set when Martinez Sanchez broke to lead 3-2, although the crucial point-winning shot appeared to rebound off her arm.

"The ball did touch her 100 per cent on her arm. The rules of tennis are when the ball hits your body, then it's out of play," said Williams.

"You lose a point automatically. So the ball hit her body, and therefore, she should have lost the point instead of cheating."

Alexsandra Wozniak, the first Canadian woman to make the fourth round, now awaits Williams who is attempting to win a second French Open and ensure all four Grand Slam titles are currently in the Williams family.

Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up, slumped to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 defeat to Australia's Samantha Stosur who reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in her career, and the first time on the testing clay courts of the French capital.

Stosur will now tackle France's Virginie Razzano, who put out Italian veteran Tathiana Garbin 7-5, 7-5, where a victory would make her the first Australian woman to make the quarter-finals since Jelena Dokic in 2002.

Fifth seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, a semi-finalist in the last two years, brushed aside Australia's Jarmila Groth 6-1, 6-1 and Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian seventh seed, continued her low-profile progress with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Hungary's Melinda Czink.