The clash of the week between Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova in the third round of the French Open was suspended at 6-2 3-6 as the darkness and lurking rain would ensure the third set could not be finished on the Court Philippe Chatrier.

The four-time champion Henin, seeded 22nd this year, was in command during the first set. Sharapova didn’t convert any of her four break points, while Henin used both her chances to break and won the first set 6-2. Sharapova was trying, but wasn’t aggressive enough and hit three winners in comparison to Henin’s nine.

The 12th-seeded Russian then revived her aggression in the second set, and finally converted a break point, her eighth, to take a 5-3 lead and serve for the set. That final game of the second set Sharapova won to love.

Afterwards, today’s part of the match ended, on Sharapova's momentum, but tomorrow is another day and the final outcome is absolutely uncertain. (photos: Ralf Reinecke, Stephane Martinache)

The third round between Nadia Petrova and Aravane Rezai was suspended at 6-7(2) 6-4 7-7 on Friday due to darkness and both players went to sleep knowing they had blown three match points. The match was continued today and the 19th-seeded Petrova finished it in just 15 minutes, breaking the 15th-seeded Rezai for a 9-8 lead and then serving out the match.

Russia’s Petrova, who was semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2003 and 2005, will play second seed Venus Williams in the fourth round. Petrova has never defeated Williams in their four meetings, but none of them were on clay. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Svetlana Kuznetsova may have survived four match points against Andrea Petkovic in the second round of the French Open, but the defending champion was not as lucky in the next round and fell on the third match point by fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko.

The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova had a point for a 3-0 lead in the third set, but seed No.30 Kirilenko won four games in a row. Kuznetsova then had a chance to level at 5-5, but that was not to happen as Kirilenko held her nerve and recorded one of the best wins of her career to finish the match 6-3 2-6 6-4 and reach the fourth round of the French Open for the first time.

"I mean, it was very hard to defend my title with the tennis I have been playing this season," said Kuznetsova, who also lost to Kirilenko in the second round of Rome earlier this month.

Kirilenko’s opponent in the fourth round will be Italy's Francesca Schiavone, seeded 17th. (source: Reuters, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

It took top seed and world No.1 Serena Williams just 55 minutes to win her second round match against Julia Goerges 6-1 6-1 at the 2010 French Open. Serena made no double faults in the encounter postponed by rain, compared to Goerges’ five, and hit just four unforced errors, compared to Goerges’ 20. Serena’s opponent in the third round will be seed No.29 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Jill Craybas 6-4 6-1.

Second-seeded Venus Williams also advanced, but to the fourth round, with a 6-3 6-4 victory over No.26 seed Dominika Cibulkova. The Slovakian played the semifinals last year in Paris, and entered the match with a 1-0 record against Venus, but the American hit 20 winners, twice as many as Cibulkova, and reached her first fourth round at the French Open since 2006.

Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin won their second rounds stopped by darkness yesterday and ensured a blockbuster third round match at the French Open. Both Sharapova and Henin advanced with the score 6-3 6-3: the 12th-seeded Sharapova defeated Kirsten Flipkens, the 22nd-seeded Henin defeated Klara Zakopalova. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic fought hard to avoid the fate of countrywoman Ana Ivanovic and survive the challenge of Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi to reach the third round of the 2010 French Open.

The fourth-seeded Jankovic cruised through the first set, before losing the second set to the 118th-ranked qualifier Kanepi, who was a Top 20 player a year ago. In the decider, Jankovic couldn’t capitalize on her 4-2 lead right away,  but from 4-all she confidently finished the match 6-2 3-6 6-4 and leveled her career record against Kanepi at 1-1.

Jankovic’s opponent in the third round will be seed No.27 Alona Bondarenko.

Additional info: This is not related to this match and Roland Garros, but it is to Jankovic. Remember Jankovic's imitation of Ivanovic's fist pumping? Well, both were asked about the incident, and their comments are hilarious. Like none of them wanted to comment on it, but of course they couldn't help it. As you can imagine, Ivanovic had more control over herself. Read on. (photo: Stephane Martinache)