Tennis: Jelena Jankovic Powers Past Venus Williams to Ensure Best-ever French Open Showing

Jelena Jankovic underlined her credentials as a genuine contender for the women's title at Roland Garros as she powered past Venus Williams 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to reach the fourth round.

Fourth seed Jankovic, who had never previously gone past the third round at a French Open, was showing the sort of form that helped her to claim the Rome Masters last month as she took the game to Williams, the 26th seed from the word go. Breaking Williams in the first game of the match, Jankovic served relentlessly well to take the set in 30 minutes, taking three games to love.

Williams hit back at the start of the second, quickly jumping ahead 3-0, but Jankovic pulled it back to 3-2 by forcing a break in the fifth game. Williams immediately broke back again and served for the set at 5-3 up, but once again surrendered her own serve. She was able to tie the match by returning the favor on the next game, imposing herself ever-more aggressively on her opponent with some ferocious forehands.

It proved merely a stay of execution for Williams, however, as Jankovic recomposed herself in the final set, breaking her increasingly jaded opponent three times in succession to seal the victory.

"I never had it in my mind that I would lose," said Jankovic. "I was a little bit tired in the second set, but I just went for it in the third and it paid off. It was an amazing third-round match and it was a shame that Venus had to go out so early. It's always good to beat one of the Williams sisters."

Williams hasn't gone further than the quarter-finals at the French Open since she reached the final in 2002 and seemed disappointed by her performance. "I got a little bit tired at the end," she said. "It's tough on clay. I felt a little bit slow. I couldn't get my feet where I wanted them. The third set went a little bit faster than what I expected. But am I discouraged? No, not at all. I don't feel like she came out there and really beat me."

Jankovic now plays either Elena Dementieva or Marion Bartoli in the fourth round.

In the men's draw, Roger Federer cruised into round four with a routine 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 win over Potito Starace. Federer powered home 34 straight winners in a one-sided clash that lasted an hour and 31 minutes, and will take on 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny in the next round following the Russian's four-set win over Juan Carlos Ferrero earlier today.