JJ & Sam Beat The Dark

Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur got wins in before darkness fell, but Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin didn't make the cut.

Published May 29, 2010 12:00

JJ & Sam Beat The Dark
Alona Bondarenko

PARIS, France - As the sun started setting, the last wave of third round matches began. And for Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur it wasn't much of a sunset, as they both moved into the second week with straight set wins. The third match was stopped for bad light, however.

Stosur, the No.7 seed, was the first to move through, cruising past qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova, 63 62. Pivovarova had taken out No.25 seed Zheng Jie a round earlier but couldn't make an impression on the Australian No.1.

"I thought I played quite well today. It's nice to be in the fourth round now," said Stosur, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros a year ago. "I've had a good lead up to the French, and three good matches here. I'll go into my next match thinking I can win - you've got to believe that."

Stosur's next opponents is, as of yet, undecided. The blockbuster match-up between No.12 seed Maria Sharapova and No.22 seed Justine Henin was stopped after Henin took the first, 6-2, and Sharapova the next, 6-3.

"Against either of them I'm going to have to serve well and smart," Stosur said. "I'm ready to play. There's no better time than the fourth round of a Grand Slam."

Check out off-court pics of Serena and others in Paris right here!

In the other match, No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic got revenge for an Australian Open loss with a 64 76(3) win over No.27 seed Alona Bondarenko.

"I had to work really hard and dig deep," said Jankovic, who improved to 10-1 against the Ukrainian. "All the points were very long. You couldn't win an easy point, and she played very solid. She didn't give me free points."

Jankovic next plays No.23 seed Daniela Hantuchova, against whom she has lost twice on clay this year - at Charleston and in Fed Cup.

"I had two tough matches against her, but I was injured. At that time I had a problem with my wrist," Jankovic said. "It will be a tough match. She's playing very well. I just want to play my game and hope for the best. I hope I can do it."

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