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Compiled from Times wiresVenus Williams loses her early lead; Davenport and Capriati also gone.
PARIS - Serena Williams could be holding up her latest Grand Slam trophy this week at Roland Garros, but older sister Venus will not be on the podium beside her to play the now-customary role of graceful loser.
Venus Williams was knocked out of the French Open on Sunday, losing in the fourth round to an 18-year-old Russian, Vera Zvonareva.
Though Venus Williams bore little resemblance to the imperious, serve-slamming champion who dominated the women's game before Serena took charge, Zvonareva handled the moment, and Venus' baseline power, too well for her 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to have been a fluke.
The upset means there will be no fifth consecutive all-Williams final in a Grand Slam event, and it was not the only surprise engineered Sunday by a young, apparently nerve-free Russian. Little more than an hour after Zvonareva beat the third-seeded Williams, one of Zvonareva's childhood rivals in Moscow, Nadia Petrova, defeated another U.S. star, seventh-seeded Jennifer Capriati.
Just last month, Capriati beat Petrova in straight sets in the round of 16 in the Italian Open, but the 76th-ranked Petrova was a much more confident, tenacious player in this round of 16. She shook off an early break of serve in the third set and won six of the final seven games to close out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
It was a day for jangling the hierarchy, and Americans were the primary victims, with No. 6-seeded Lindsay Davenport forced to abandon her match against Spanish veteran Conchita Martinez because of an injured toe while trailing 4-6, 0-2. The two Americans who did reach the quarterfinals were No. 1-seeded Serena Williams, who defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan 7-5, 6-3, and No. 8 Chanda Rubin, who defeated Petra Mandula of Hungary 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Serena Williams was down a service break twice in the first set but rallied from a 4-2 deficit. She escaped injury in the sixth game when she slipped on the clay chasing a shot and tumbled into the net, landing hard on her left side.
Her opponent Tuesday is France's Amelie Mauresmo, who upset Williams in the Rome semifinal May 17.
Venus Williams, whose clay-court season was curtailed by a strained abdominal muscle suffered on May 4, played poorly, double-faulting 12 times, hitting only four service winners and making 75 unforced errors. She even got booed by the French crowd as she walked off the court after declining a television interview.
"I don't think I had the kind of preparation I wanted," Williams said. "And I felt that I had to try to compensate in other areas, whereas normally I could be playing freely and swinging freely and just be completely ready."
Capriati, who won the French Open in 2001, looked much more fit and eager, but the lack of variety in her game cost her as Petrova showed off her own by winning 17 of 25 points at the net. "This is the best I've seen her play," Capriati said. "Everything was going her way, and if she can keep playing like that, she can go pretty far in the tournament."
On the men's side, Andre Agassi advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years, beating Flavio Saretta 6-2, 6-1, 7-5.
"I knew the first week was going to be crucial for me," Agassi said. "So now it's like basically a new life. I've sort of found my comfort zone out there, striking the ball well, moving and feeling pretty comfortable."
Agassi, the 1999 champion, next plays the winner of a match suspended because of darkness Sunday, with No. 7-seeded Guillermo Coria leading Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7.
One men's quarterfinal pairing is already set: No. 4 Carlos Moya against unseeded Dutchman Martin Verkerk, who has yet to win a Grand Slam. Agassi's victory left him three from his 59th career championship, and it left him in a mood to reminisce. He played a Brazilian on Sunday. As it happens, he won his first title 15 years ago in Itaparica, Brazil.
"Martin Jaite in the semis, Luis Mattar in the final 7-6, 6-2," Agassi said. "A $90,000 paycheck. Lots of women in bathing suits going around. I remember a lot. It was a very special week for me down there, my first win."
Agassi has 765 wins - sixth on the men's career list - and estimated that he remembers 75 percent of them. He most likely remembers all of his 233 defeats.
His near-total recall goes beyond matches on the ATP Tour. He remembers playing Michael Chang when he was 12. He remembers a satellite tournament in Florida where he earned his first prize money: $1,100.
"You don't necessarily remember specific scores," he said. "You remember, "Easy first set, couple breaks, second set I lost my serve late, one break.' That sort of thing."
Even among the many highlights in Agassi's career, this week could rank near the top. At 33 he's the oldest in the draw, and he's three wins from his ninth major title. He has won the Australian Open and is 11-0 in Grand Slam matches since losing to Pete Sampras in the 2002 U.S. Open final.