Early exit for Serena

Williams: third-round departure

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Former champion Serena Williams has been knocked out of the French Open by Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

The fifth-seeded American, who won the Roland Garros title in 2002, gave an error-strewn performance as she suffered a straight sets 6-4 6-4 defeat in the third-round encounter.

Srebotnik, seeded 27th, clinched victory when Williams, who cut a frustrated figure for much of the 90-minute contest, sent a forehand wide.

It is Williams' earliest exit from the Paris event since 1999, when she also lost in the third round.

"I just felt like I missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of key points that I felt like could have turned the match around. I wasn't able to capitalise on a lot of that," Williams later said.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match, but what can I say? She just played unbelievable today," she added.

Portent

Srebotnik offered a portent of what was to come by breaking in the opening game of the match but Williams, in her 34th grand slam event, levelled for 2-2.

Williams hit a forehand wide to give her opponent a break at 4-3 and she then netted one of several mis-hit overheads to hand Srebotnik two sets points at 5-4.

She saved both but finally conceded the opener on a fourth set point after 44 minutes when she netted a backhand.

Williams looked sharper in the second, roaring encouragement with every winner she put away - but Srebotnik had more than enough resolve to match.

Srebotnik gained another break in game nine and eventually sealed victory on her third match point.

Having won just one set in their previous three meetings, Srebotnik now faces a fourth-round clash with Swiss 10th seed Patty Schnyder, after she defeated France's Emilie Loit 7-6 (7-4) 5-7 6-2.

Sharapova, Ivanovic through

Meanwhile, the top two seeds - Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic - both recorded victories, but in contrasting fashion.

Sharapova, the number one seed in Paris despite her unspectacular record on clay, was pushed to three sets by Bethanie Mattek.

The Russian led 6-2 2-3 overnight and, when play resumed on Friday, Mattek won three of the first four games to claim the second set.

And although Sharapova came through 6-2 in the decider, it was another inconsistent display following her struggles in the first round, when she also required three sets to see off Evgeniya Rodina. Italy's 32nd seed Karin Knapp is next for Sharapova in the third round.

Second seed Ivanovic had no such problems, easing to a 6-4 6-1 success over Caroline Wozniacki in the third round.

The Serbian was pushed all the way by the promising 17-year-old from Denmark in a pulsating first set but eventually eased to the win.

Ivanovic, who also beat Wozniacki in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open, will next play Petra Cetkovska, who beat fellow Czech Iveta Benesova in straight sets.