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Schiavone marches on in Paris

Paris - Defending champion Francesca Schiavone produced another masterclass in claycourt tennis on Sunday to reach the French Open quarter-finals with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic.

With the top three seeds already out of the tournament, the little Italian fifth seed, who upset the odds a year ago to win her first Grand Slam, looks well placed to be the first woman to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007.

The 30-year-old Schiavone, who had dropped just 10 games in reaching the fourth round, was quick out of the blocks breaking in the fourth and sixth games to take a 5-1 lead.

Jankovic, a former world No 1 still seeking her first Grand Slam title at the age of 26, erased one of those breaks, but was powerless to prevent the title-holder from winning her next service game.

Using plenty of spin and tactical positioning to counter Jankovic's more powerful hitting, Schiavone kept the pressure firmly on her opponent.

But after squandering two break points in the first game, she found herself coming under increasing pressure in trying to deal with her opponent's heavier weight of shot.

Jankovic broke serve to lead 3-0 before the Milanese player bounced back with a break of her own to get to 3-2.

But it was Jankovic who dominated for the rest of the set winning three more games to level the score and force a decider.

The key moment came, after an early exchange of service breaks, in the ninth game with the scores level at 4-4.

Schiavone went on the offensive at the net to earn a break point which she converted when an under-pressure Jankovic hit long with a backhand.

She then served out for the match and her 11th straight win at Roland Garros.

Schiavone will next play 19-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals. The pair have played three times previously with Schiavone winning twice.

Results from the eighth day of the 2011 French Open at Roland Garros on Sunday (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Fourth Round


Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x14) 6-3, 6-2, 7-5
Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Albert Montanes (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9
Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) bt Richard Gasquet (FRA x13) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Women

Fourth Round


Marion Bartoli (FRA x11) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 7-5, 1-0 - retired
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x14) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS x3) 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-2
Francesca Schiavone (ITA x5) bt Jelena Jankovic (SRB x10) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

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