ESPN.com - French Open 2002 - Capriati overcomes sloppy start
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Thursday, July 17
Capriati overcomes sloppy start

PARIS -- Jennifer Capriati started slowly and finished in a hurry Saturday, winning 11 of the last 12 games to beat Evie Dominikovic 6-3, 6-1 and reach the fourth round at the French Open.

Also making the fourth round was No. 3 Serena Williams, who beat Janette Husarova 6-1, 6-3.

Top-seeded Capriati, the defending champion, double faulted and committed three unforced errors to lose her serve on the very first game of the match.

She trailed 3-1 and then went on a run against Dominikovic, ranked No. 109 in the world. Dominikovic finished with 42 unforced errors -- eight more than Capriati in a 52-minute match.

Capriati, who next faces No. 20 Patty Schnyder, will lose the No. 1 ranking to Venus Williams, regardless of how the French Open plays out.

``I'm pretty much used to it changing like that. I don't even pay attention. It goes to show you how bizarre it is if you win a Grand Slam and you're not even No. 1,'' said Capriati, who won the Australian Open in January.

``If you win two of the year so far, you're not No. 1. That doesn't make any sense.''

Schnyder beat No. 14 Iroda Tulyaganova, 7-5, 7-6 (6). Also making the round of 16 Saturday were seventh-seeded Jelena Dokic, who raced to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Elena Likhovtseva, and No. 9 Silvia Farina Elia, a 6-0, 7-6 (6) winner over Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Serena Williams will play qualifier Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-5.

Serena's sister, Venus, has lost just three 12 games in three matches.

Her fourth-round opponent, Chanda Rubin, quietly advanced by beating seeded opponents in Barbara Schett (16) and Anne Kremer (23) to get there. She's twice been a quarterfinalist at the French Open, including 2000, but couldn't play last year.

``The first thing I wanted was my health,'' said Rubin, who had surgery to repair torn cartilage in her left knee twice over the past 17 months.

Rubin, ranked 45th, showed her ability on clay last week in just her third tournament this year, finishing second to Monica Seles at Madrid. It was her first final in 19 months.

Already in the round of 16 is Clarisa Fernandez, who pulled off the tournament's biggest upset so far by beating No. 4 Kim Clijsters, last year's runner-up, 6-4, 6-0.

Other round-of-16 matchups include: No. 6 Seles vs. No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova, No. 13 Elena Dementieva vs. Fernandez, and No. 10 Amelie Mauresmo vs. Paola Suarez.

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 French Open
Serena Williams advances with a third round victory over Janette Husarova 6-1, 6-3.
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 French Open
Serena Williams talks to ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez following her third round victory.
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