Sat May 31 09:19:13 2008

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Sharapova, Jankovic, Kuznetsova reach fourth round in Paris

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Maria Sharapova, third-seeded Jelena Jankovic and 2006 French Open runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova highlighted Saturday's third-round winners at Roland Garros.

The Australian Open titlist Sharapova got past 32nd-seeded Italian Karin Knapp 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 to improve to a flawless 10-0 in her Grand Slam matches this year. The three-time major champion needs the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Sharapova's fourth-round opponent will be 13th-seeded fellow Russian Dinara Safina.

Meanwhile, Jankovic handled 28th-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-3 and a fourth-seeded Kuznetsova crushed 25th-seeded fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1. Jankovic was leading Cibulkova 7-5, 4-2 here on Friday when played was called due to darkness. The Serbian came out on Saturday and promptly won two of three games to setup a meeting with rising 14th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

Kuznetsova is a former U.S. Open champion, was last year's U.S. Open runner- up, and lost to Justine Henin in the French Open finale two years ago. She will meet Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka in the round of 16.

In other third-round action, the aforementioned Safina stopped Chinese Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-5 and a 16th-seeded Azarenka dismantled 18th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-1 on Day 7 of this clay-court major. The 18-year- old Azarenka has dropped only six games through her first three matches of this fortnight.