General / Editor / 03 June 2007 /

Eighth seed Serena Williams clinched a place in the French Open quarter-finals with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 victory against Dinara Safina.

The former world number one and 2002 champion at Roland Garros, took 77 minutes to progress and set up a last-eight showdown against either champion Justine Henin or Sybille Bammer.

Williams was 4-0 ahead in the first set just after the 30-minute mark and, while her Russian opponent managed to break her twice in the second set, the American powered her way through.

Meanwhile fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo's hopes of winning her home Grand Slam were dashed on Saturday afternoon when she was defeated 6-3 7-6 (7-3) by 20-year-old Czech star Lucie Safarova in the third round in Paris.

Mauresmo, who has never got beyond the quarter-finals at the French Open, was disappointed to go out and felt an injury problem did not help her.

She said: "I felt something in my adductors, but I've been struggling for a few weeks now.

"Coming here to the French Open, I didn't really know what to expect. I was really taking it match by match.

"It showed today that when you're not prepared the way you should be, it's very difficult.

"You want to give your best in each match, to go to the end. But it was not enough for me."

Williams, chasing her second straight Grand Slam win of 2007, is 6.4 with Betfair to add the French Open crown to her Australian Open title.

Justine Henin is the 2.6 favourite in Betfair's French Open Womens Tournament - Winner's market, after Mauresmo's exit on Saturday.

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