Mauresmo suffers French Open KO

Updated 15.44 Sat Jun 02 2007
Keywords: Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, French Open, tennis, sport

Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo has become the highest-profile casualty of the 2007 French Open after she was knocked out by Lucie Safarova.

Safarova beat fifth-seeded Mauresmo 6-3 7-6 in the third round at Roland Garros to set up a last-16 clash with ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze, who defeated Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-4 6-4.

Safarova beat fifth-seeded Mauresmo 6-3 7-6 in the third round at Roland Garros to set up a last-16 clash with ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze

At the start of the year the 20-year-old Czech brought Mauresmo's Australian Open title defence to an end in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

And she reflected on her latest victory over the Frenchwoman in Paris: "It was great, it was amazing. I felt nervous in the start because Amelie was at home… but I never gave up."

Mauresmo, who has still to make it past the quarter-finals in her home Grand Slam tournament, said: "It was very close and it could have gone either way. It's very disappointing as I was 3-0 up in each set and just couldn't do it."

World number two Maria Sharapova booked her place in the fourth round with a 6-1 6-4 win over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva while last year's beaten finalist Svetlana Kuznetsova saw off Slovakian teenager Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-3.

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