Venus Williams from the United States serves to compatriot Ashley Harkleroad during their second-round match at the French Open yesterday. Williams won 6-1, 7-6 (8). - Reuters

PARIS (Reuters):

VENUS WILLIAMS un-leashed the fastest serve by a woman at a Grand Slam as the American kept the Stars and Stripes fluttering at the French Open yesterday.

Just hours after Robby Ginepri's 6-4, 1-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 defeat by Argentina's Diego Hartfield condemned the U.S. men to their worst showing at Roland Garros in at least 40 years, Williams lit up a dank court one with a 206 kph thunderbolt.

The milestone, a shade slower than Brenda Schultz-McCarthy's overall record of 209 kph hit in qualifying in Cincinnati last July, made up for an otherwise unimpressive 6-1, 7-6 second-round victory over fellow American Ashley Harkleroad.

"I loved it. I lost my focus a little bit because I saw the 206," said Williams who had let slip a 5-1 lead in the second set.

"I was so excited because I broke my record."

Lapses

The five-times slam champion cannot afford any such lapses in the next round as she will be up against in-form Serbian fourth seed Jelena Jankovic.

The last of nine U.S. male competitors to fall in Paris, Ginepri's exit also meant that for first time in 34 years no American men had reached the second round of one of the four majors.

Champion Justine Henin failed to get distracted by a 70-minute rain disruption and romped to a 7-5, 6-1 win over Austrian Tamira Paszek.

Maria Sharapova showed there was no room for sentiment when she led a batch of Russian seeds into the second round.

Playing under menacing clouds and in a rush to get off court before the heavens opened again, the world number two was in unforgiving mood as local darling Emilie Loit hobbled around the court with a thigh strain.

Sharapova wins

Sharapova made light of her own patched-up shoulder as she powered to a 6-3, 7-6 victory. She was joined in the last 64 by 2006 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova and ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Australia's Alicia Molik.

Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo began her 13th tilt at winning her home Grand Slam with a 6-0, 7-5 triumph over American Laura Granville.

Kuznetsova avenged one of the most painful defeats of her career when she blew fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova off court 6-0, 6-3.

The third seed was humiliated by Bychkova at the 2005 U.S. Open when she became the first defending champion to lose in the opening round.

Fast forward two years and Bychkova felt the full force of Kuznetsova's wrath.

The roller-coaster careers of another pair of Russians, former champion Anastasia Myskina and 22nd seed Marat Safin, took another nosedive.

Making her comeback after undergoing foot surgery in January, Myskina was embarrassed 6-1, 6-0 by American Meghann Shaughnessy.

Myskina, the first Russian woman to lift a grand slam title when she triumphed here in 2004, almost skipped the tournament.

She probably wished she had missed her flight out of Moscow as she has not won a match since last August.

"I have to be a realist. I knew I was not going to win but I just wanted to see how my foot would feel," Myskina said. "You can see I'm moving like a big cow now."

Safin raged, rolled in the red dirt and smashed a racquet but his histrionics could not prevent a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 mauling by Serb Janko Tipsarevic in the second round.