Chinese Zheng makes history, Safin, Coria and Henman move on

Updated: 2004-05-29 17:34

Chinese No. 1 women player Zheng Jie beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy, who knocked out world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the French Open tennis championships on Friday.

Now Zheng Jie became the first Chinese woman to advance that far at a Grand Slam event. The victory was even more impressive because Garbin's previous victory is from 2003 champion Justine Henin-Harde.

"At the beginning, my goal was to win in the first round, then the second round, I never imagined I could win in the third round, " said Zheng Jie.

The 1.63-meter Zheng Jie is most proud of her two-handed backhand and superior endurance, which she said gave her an edge against Garbin.

For her success at Roland Garros, Zheng is guaranteed about US$ 66,600. Li Fang achieved the best previous result by a Chinese woman in a major event, reaching the third round at the 1992 Australian Open. Li climbed to 36th in 1998, the highest ranking for a woman from China. Zheng, now ranked 58th, will break into the top 50 in the next rankings.

Zheng's opponent in the fourth round will be No. 14-seeded Paola Suarez of Argentina.

No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo of France also advanced, beating Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-3, 6-2. Mauresmo recorded her best Roland Garros performance so far by reaching the quarters last year and faces Magdalena Maleeva in round four.

Lindsay Davenport advanced comfortably, beating Marissa Irvin 6- 1, 6-4 before allowing herself to look deeper into the draw.

Number two Kim Clijsters missing through injury and the Williams sisters Venus and Serena under-par, Davenport knows this is an ideal chance to win the only grand slam title missing from her collection.

Davenport is on track for a quarter-final against France's Amelie Mauresmo.

Florida-based Sharapova faces unseeded German Marlene Weingaertner for a place in the quarter-finals.

Weingaertner provided the early shock of the day when she ousted eighth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-2.

Russia's Maria Sharapova stormed through to the fourth round with an impressive 6-3, 7-6 victory over 10th seed Vera Zvonareva.

On the men's side, Marat Safin closed out a two-day marathon against Felix Mantilla by winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 11-9, but was annoyed afterward that he was penalized a point for dropping his shorts early in the fifth set.

A strong favorite for the title, Coria will next face Nicolas Escude for a place in the quarters. The Frenchman beat Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.

Briton Tim Henman played a dream of a match to hammer Spain's Galo Blanco 7-6, 6-1, 6-2 and move into the last 16 for the first time on his ninth visit here.

Henman will play unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra for a place in the quarter-finals. The Briton has never gone beyond round four at any grand-slam event outside of Wimbledon.

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