Veteran Swede Jonas Bjorkman hugs himself after winning his match against Spain's Oscar Hernandez at the French Open yesterday. - Reuters

PARIS (Reuters):

AMELIE MAURESMO'S faint hopes of winning her home grand slam ended in heartache once more yesterday, her French Open dreams shredded by a familiar Czech foe.

On a day when Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova strolled into the fourth round by losing a combined total of 16 games, Lucie Safarova turned into public enemy number one when she shoved Mauresmo towards the exit with a 6-3, 7-6 victory.

The 20-year-old Czech sealed Mauresmo's demise for the second grand slam running after one hour and 54 minutes of riveting action.

As Safarova greeted her moment of triumph by punching the air in delight and blowing kisses to all corners of the court, a crestfallen Mauresmo dwelled on her 13th flop in Paris.

"It was very close and it could have gone either way. It's very disappointing as I was 3-0 up in each set and just couldn't do it," said the Wimbledon champion, whose French Open highlights remain two quarter-final showings in 2003 and 2004.

The last Frenchman in the draw, Olivier Patience, came within two points of upsetting Serbian sixth seed Novak Djokovic but followed Mauresmo out after wilting to a 7-6, 2-6,3-6, 7-6, 6-3 defeat.

Explosive collision

Champion Nadal, however, faced no such drama as he headed for an explosive fourth-round collision with Lleyton Hewitt.

The Spaniard extended his Roland Garros record to 17-0 with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 master class over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes.

Women's world number two Sharapova had provided the warm-up act for the Mauresmo-Safarova showdown on the Philippe Chatrier court and made sure she did not outstay her welcome. She recovered from a 4-1 blip in the second set to run through a 6-1 6-4 win over Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva.

Third seed Kuznetsova continued to slice through the draw by overwhelming Slovak teenager Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-3. They were joined by ninth seed Anna Chakvetadze, who ended the Asian challenge in the singles draw by outlasting Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-4 6-4 under a blazing sky. But it was Chakvetadze's last-16 opponent, Safarova, who basked under the sunshine.

"It was great, it was amazing. I felt nervous in the start because Amelie was at home ... but I never gave up," said the 29th-ranked Czech.

Mauresmo had stepped on to the most famous claycourt stage declaring: "I want revenge ... I just want to make amends."

Still haunted by memories of her fourth-round downfall at the Australian Open, when Safarova had ended her reign as champion, Mauresmo kept her word for 20 spellbinding minutes. She barely gave her left-handed opponent a chance to soak up the atmosphere and had stormed into a 3-0 lead.

But things never come easy for Mauresmo in Paris and once more her challenge crumbled. Trailing 4-3 in the first set, she took an injury time out to have her right thigh strapped, but the break did little to change her fortunes. The second set proved to be a video replay of the first, Mauresmo surging to a 3-0 lead and Safarova winning the next four games to nose 4-3 ahead.

As matchpoint flashed up on the scoreboard with Safarova leading 6-3 in the tiebreak, an anxious Mauresmo ended her own ordeal with a forehand into the net.

Former champion Carlos Moya, 30, set up a clash of the 'golden oldies' with 35-year-old Jonas Bjorkman.

The Swede became the oldest player to reach the fourth round here since 38-year-old Nicola Pietrangeli in 1972.