Defending champion Li Na advanced to the fourth round of the French Open with a 3-6 6-2 6-1 win over Christina McHale.
Chinese player finds form after slow start against McHale
Defending champion Li Na recovered from a set down to defeat American Christina McHale 3-6 6-2 6-1 in the third round of the French Open.
The seventh seed from China needed almost two hours on a sunsoaked Court Suzanne Lenglen to see off McHalem, the 20-year-old world number 36.
Li, 30, struggled with her serve in the early stages and went a break down in the sixth game before immediately breaking back.
But McHale was making the most of her superior pace and broke again to take the opening set after 48 minutes.
Li upped her game in the second set, finding better angles to open up a 4-1 lead and a second break enabled her to level the match.
She then reeled off five games in succession in the decider against a tiring McHale to wrap up the victory and set up a last-16 meeting with Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Schvedova, who eased past Spain's Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-4 7-5.
"In the first set I think I always followed what she did," said Li. "I was feeling like she's the champion on the court. But I was happy I changed a bit at the beginning of the second set to play my way.
"She's a very dangerous player. I was happy I could win the match today because I have more experience."
Brat lesson
Earlier, Petra Kvitova reached the fourth round with a 6-2 4-6 6-1 success against Nina Bratchikova in Saturday's opening match on Philippe Chatrier.
Czech Kvitova, the fourth seed, had looked set for a smooth passage when dominating the first set in 28 minutes.
But her Russian opponent, ranked 109 in the world, turned things round in a second set that contained 16 unforced errors from Kvitova, four times more than Bratchikova, who broke the Wimbledon champion's serve twice.
Kvitova regained the upper hand in the decider, breaking twice to close out victory in one hour and 46 minutes.
"I started well, had a set already, and then I was very aggressive and I knew what I had to do," said Kvitova.
"In the second set I was still like, okay, if I play like the first set, it will be fine. But it wasn't. She played much better than the first set. She had a better serve, and it was tough to return.
"She had pressure from the first shot that she played. I was running side to side and that's not my game. So I had to change and be aggressive and put her a little further back."
Schiavone out
Kvitova advances to a last-16 date with Amercian Varvara Lepchenko, who ended Francesca Schiavone's hopes of a third straight final appearance.
Lepchenko came from a set down to post a 3-6 6-3 8-6 victory, one which is likely to earn her a place on the US Olympic team.
Schiavone, who beat Sam Stosur in 2010 then lost to Li last year, took the first set reasonably comfortably but was pegged back by Lepchenko.
The third set was a topsy-turvy affair, with the American serving for the match at 5-3 only for 14th seed Schiavone to level, but Lepchenko broke again and then saved four break points on her own serve before finally taking it 3-6 6-3 8-6 in three hours.
The Ukraine-born player's win leaves Venus Williams' Olympic hopes in doubt. The ranking cut-off point to determined Olympic places comes at the conclusion of the French Open.
Klara Zakopalova knocked out 22nd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Czech player winning 6-3 7-5.
