Justine Henin recovered from losing her first set at the French Open for five years to down Maria Sharapova in the third round.
Four-time champion battles into last 16 with three-set victory
Justine Henin recovered from losing her first set at the French Open for five years to overcome Maria Sharapova in the third round.
The four-time Roland Garros queen looked in real danger of her first defeat in the tournament since 2004 when 12th seed Sharapova had three points for a double-break in the deciding set, after the contest resumed on Sunday afternoon at one set all.
But the Belgian 22nd seed, playing in the clay Grand Slam for the first time since 2007, hit back to win five of the next six games and seal a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory after two hours and seven minutes spread over two days on Court Philippe Chatrier.
"Maria is a champion. You can't give her any opportunities. I am happy to get through," said Henin after recording her seventh win in 10 meetings with the Russian.
"It was a real good test. The journey continues and I'm pleased to have a chance to win here at Roland Garros."
Back foot
Henin admitted she had got off to a terrible start and that fighting off the four break points in the third game of the final set was crucial.
"I was on the back foot at the start. I had to react because things would have been very complicated if I had gone 3-0 down."
Sharapova agreed that the third game had been crucial in the destiny of the match.
"I had opportunities but it was frustrating not taking them," said Sharapova, who won the Stuttgart clay court title in the run-up to Roland Garros after battling an elbow injury.
"I was a little too hesitant, but I know the things I need to do and I just want to get back on the court and work on them. At 40-0 in that third game, she did a great job of being solid and served her way out of it."
Henin, who extended her winning run at the French Open to 24 matches, will face Australian seventh seed Samantha Stosur for a place in the quarter-finals.
Emphatic
Fifth seed Elena Dementieva swept into the last eight of the Paris major with an emphatic 6-1 6-3 victory over South African qualifier Chanelle Scheepers.
The Russian, who had struggled to complete her third-round win over Aleksandra Wozniak due to a calf injury, won in 74 minutes and will meet Nadia Petrova for a place in the semi-finals.
Maria Kirilenko, the 30th seed who defeated defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the previous round, failed in her attempt to follow her compatriot Dementieva into the quarter-finals.
She lost 6-4 6-4 to Italian 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, who will now take on Danish third seed Caroline Wozniacki, who beat 14th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta or 7-6 6-7 6-2.
