Four-time French Open champion Justine Henin had her Roland Garros dream end, losing in the fourth round Monday to Australian Sam Stosur, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The loss Monday ended Henin’s streak of 24 consecutive victories at Roland Garros. She was one shy of tying Monica Seles for second place all-time in the Roland Garros women’s win streaks. Chris Evert won a record 29 straight women’s singles matches. This was Henin’s first appearance at the tournament since ending a 20-month retirement.
Stosur trailed 4-3 in the final set but surged to the finish, closing out the victory with an overhead slam. Henin looked tight in the final game, pushing backhands into the net.
The 26-year-old Stosur was a semifinalist last year and is ranked a career-best No. 7. She has won 18 matches on clay this year, most on the women’s tour.
Her opponent in the quarterfinals will be Serena Williams. The top-seeded Williams advanced smoothly to the quarterfinals, beating Shahar Peer of Israel 6-2, 6-2.
Williams complained of dizziness from a cold following a seesaw three-set win in her previous match, but the only wobble against the No. 18-seeded Peer came at the start. Williams lost the first seven points, then swept nine in a row.
From 2-all, Williams won five consecutive games to take charge of the match.
In men’s play, No. 3-seeded Novak Djokovic eliminated the last American in the men’s draw, beating Robby Ginepri 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal defeated Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
Ginepri was serving at love-1 in the third set when he went down face-first chasing a shot. He made the most of his awkward court position by doing two push-ups, but lost the next two points to lose serve, and won only three games the rest of the way.
Djokovic’s next opponent will be No. 22 Jurgen Melzer, a first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist playing in his 32nd major event. The Austrian advanced by beating qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Ginepri, ranked 98th, was an unlikely round-of-16 foe for Djokovic. Ginepri entered the tournament with a 1-7 record this year, and a career record of 9-31 on clay.
Djokovic’s box included more than a dozen supporters who cheered and waved a Serbian flag every time he won a point. Ginepri’s without a coach and traveled to Paris by himself.
Still, the American played Djokovic on even terms for more than an hour. Ginepri held serve easily until the final game of the first set, when he was broken.
Djokovic blew an easy forehand putaway to lose his serve for the first time, and Ginepri broke again while dominating the second set.
But then Ginepri faded fast, perhaps weary after playing 13 grinding sets in his first three matches. His groundstrokes became more erratic, and Djokovic won five consecutive games and 10 of 11 to take control.
The Serb volleyed well, found the range with his serve and used his drop shot to keep Ginepri off balance. A two-time semifinalist at Roland Garros, Djokovic is bidding for his second major title.
“I played really good in the third and fourth sets,” Djokovic said. “I had some really good matches on clay recently. Now I’m in the quarterfinals and I need to keep playing aggressively.”
Ginepri, a former top-15 player from Kennesaw, Ga., fell to 0-15 against opponents ranked in the top three.