Tennis: French Open: Williams Sisters Are Struck Down in Short Order

There is no grand slam that exposes a player's shortage of preparation or lack of nerve more savagely than the French Open. Yesterday both Venus and Serena Williams lost in the quarter-finals on a day of frequent rain interruptions and high drama on the slow and soggy clay, as did the home favourite Amélie Mauresmo.

The two Americans could blame their defeats on a lack of competitive sharpness, while poor Mauresmo, carrying the whole expectations of the French public and once again being crushed by it, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Elena Dementieva, who joined her fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina in tomorrow's semi-finals.

This was the first time in the 41 tournaments the sisters have played together that both have been defeated in the same round, and the first time since Roland Garros three years ago that no Williams has made it into the semi-finals of one of the four slams.

Venus's clay-court preparation had been going well until Berlin, where she defaulted from the final with an ankle injury which clearly upset her Roland Garros plans. She had been undefeated on clay this year, winning 19 matches and taking the titles in Charleston and Warsaw, but on this occasion she was no match for the deep-hitting Myskina, losing 6-3, 6-4.

Venus's defeat came shortly after Serena, the 2002 French Open champion, lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to her fellow American Jennifer Capriati. Serena returned in March from nine months out after knee surgery, winning her comeback tournament in Key Biscayne. But this was only her fifth event this year, and it showed.

So for the first time since the Australian Open of 2002, when Capriati defeated Martina Hingis, now retired, there will not be either an all-Williams or all-Belgian final. Justine Henin-Hardenne lost in the second round here and Kim Clijsters is injured.

Capriati, who will now play Myskina, had lost eight successive matches against Serena before this year's Italian Open semi-final. Now she has beaten her back-to-back for the first time since 2001 when Capriati won the French Open. It may be considered an omen.

Both Capriati and Myskina, playing her second successive slam quarter-final, thoroughly deserved their victories, although both the Williams were an Eiffel Tower's height below their normal form.

Capriati lost her way in the second set when she became overly defensive and allowed Serena Williams to gather momentum. Then in the third she recaptured her brio, forcing her opponent into more and more mistakes. "It was pretty tough out there," said Capriati, "because, when you look up to serve, the rain is in your eyes. But it was the same for both of us."

Capriati celebrated her victory twice, initially thinking she had won, only for a faulty line call briefly to stay Serena's departure. The younger sister had enlivened Roland Garros with her costumes, but not her play, and Capriati justly won.

While the focus was on four Argentinians reaching the last eight of the men's event, their compatriot Paola Suarez slipped through to the quarter-finals with a minimum of fuss or attention. And once again yesterday the spotlight fell on her opponent, the 17-year-old Russian Maria Sharapova of whom much was, and is, expected.

Sharapova has lived in the United States since she was a youngster, entering Nick Bollettieri's Florida academy where she was singled out for stardom. This year she entered the top 20 and, like Venus Williams, had not dropped a set before the quarter-finals, of which this was her first in a slam.

It was not her day. Suarez must have smiled when she awoke to a damp Parisian morning, knowing the court would be extra slow and the balls that bit heavier. Sharapova reached the last 16 at Wimbledon last year, where the faster grass suited her attacking style. On this surface, which she described as "mud", she could not secure her footing or her accuracy.

Suarez, a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros in 2002 and 2004, needed to do little more than play controlled tennis to take the first set. She dropped her serve at the beginning of the second but broke back immediately to end Sharapova's resistance.

"It was very slippery and it felt so weird," said the Russian. It was a pretty weird day all round.