• French Open, Day Seven

Serena through, Henin-Sharapova match finely poised

Serena Williams lost her first set of the tournament as she battled past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova © Getty Images

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Day seven gallery
Men's round-up

No. 1 seed Serena Williams showed incredible resolve to overcome illness as she battled past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets to reach the fourth round of the French Open, while the match between Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova will play to a finish on Sunday.

The American came into the match suffering from a stomach complaint and had on-court treatment midway through the second set. No. 29 seed Pavlyuchenkova looked on top as she won the second to level the score in sets but Williams played with real heart and rediscovered her form in the deciding set to complete a 6-1 1-6 6-2 win.

Williams, who had not dropped a set in her two previous matches, showed no sign of the illness which would disrupt her efforts as she began in powerful fashion, reeling off several winners on both flanks as she wrapped up the opening set in 26 minutes.

Pavlyuchenkova struggled on serve throughout the first set but clearly gained confidence from holding her serve to love in the opening game of the second set. That provided a foundation for the Russian to work from and she duly broke Williams to lead 2-0.

Williams' problems were beginning to upset her rhythm and she called for the trainer at the change of ends. His treatment did little to stop Pavlyuchenkova from taking the second set but his patient looked in much better health in the third. A more mobile Williams broke her opponent twice in the decider and she served out in routine style to overcome the first real test of her tournament so far.

Tournament favourite Henin, who has not lost a match at Roland Garros for five years, is one set away from elimination after bad light stopped her match against Sharapova with the score at 6-2 (in Henin's favour) 3-6.

Nadia Petrova was a winner © Getty Images

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Jelena Jankovic continued her resurgence in 2010 as she moved past No. 27 seed Alona Bondarenko 6-4 7-6(3) just in the nick of time - had Jankovic not claimed the tie-break, the game would have spilled over to Sunday.

No. 19 seed Nadia Petrova will face Serena's sister Venus in the fourth round after she finished off home favourite Aravane Rezai in a marathon third set.

The match resumed at 6-6 in the third after bad light had brought play to an end the previous evening and both players continued to test each other's nerve in a series of tense games. Rezai spurned two match points before play was suspended and again failed to find the shots to penetrate her opponent's powerful serve.

Two-time semi-finalist Petrova claimed the decisive break in the 17th game of the deciding set and held serve to clinch a 6-7(2) 6-4 10-8 victory. France's Marion Bartoli also crashed out as Shahar Peer enhanced her reputation as a dark horse in the draw with a 7-6(7) 6-2 win.

Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova continued her return to form with an impressive straight sets win over 15th seed Yanina Wickmayer.

Yaroslava Shvedova will make her first fourth-round appearance in Paris after eliminating No. 28 seed Alisa Kleybanova 6-2 4-6 6-0, while Jarmila Groth came out on top in her all-Australian encounter with Anastasia Rodionova, winning 6-3 5-7 6-2.

Elsewhere, there was a win for Sam Stosur.

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