PARIS — That American Robby Ginepri would beat Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday in the third round of the French Open is not necessarily newsworthy, in and of itself.

Ginepri is 25 years old, ranked 88th and was a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2005; Serra is 27, ranked 94th and lost in the first or second round at each of the previous 13 major championships he entered.

Yet consider this: A week ago, Ginepri owned an 0-5 record at Roland Garros and a 6-24 career mark on clay. He was ranked 171st in January after losing in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open.

"He is back," Serra said.

Had Ginepri lost, one day after Venus and Serena Williams were sent home, this French Open would have been just the second Grand Slam event in the 40-year history of the Open era at which zero American men or women reached the fourth round. The only time it happened was at the 1973 Australian Open, where, it must be noted, zero American men or women were in the field.

"Last guy standing. It's a good feeling," said Ginepri.

There are other countries finding far more success.

Despite Serra's departure, for example, five men from France reached the French Open's fourth round, something that last occurred in 1971. There also are five Russian women still around, and, coincidentally, four find themselves in the same quarter of the draw, led by No. 1 Maria Sharapova.

She faces No. 13 Dinara Safina for a place in the quarterfinals; the winner will meet No. 7 Elena Dementieva or No. 11 Vera Zvonareva. All won in straight sets Saturday, as did No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 French Open runner-up, who eliminated yet another Russian, No. 25 Nadia Petrova.

Sharapova's 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victory over No. 32 Karin Knapp of Italy wasn't without hiccups, including nine double faults. But Sharapova's serve and other strokes steadily grew sturdier.

"It was like my twin sister was here," Sharapova said, "and then Maria actually made her flight, and made it for the second set."

Top-seeded Federer put himself in the second week at the 16th consecutive Slam by beating Mario Ancic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Ancic was the last player to beat Federer at Wimbledon — back in 2002, before the Swiss star won any of his 12 major titles — but has since lost all five of their encounters.

Federer called himself "the overwhelming favorite" going into his match against 55th-ranked Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who celebrated his victory over Robin Soderling by tossing his shirt and sneakers into the stands. Other fourth-round matchups include No. 5 David Ferrer vs. No. 21 Radek Stepanek, and France's Gael Monfils vs. No. 28 Ivan Ljubicic, who erased a two-set deficit to defeat No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Courtesy: Agency