Stosur ends Henin’s streak

PARIS – Justine Henin kept saying it, even if no one was listening.

She’s not back to being the player she was before taking a 20-month hiatus from tennis. She’s still searching for consistency on court. Too many “ups and downs,” to use her term.

Turns out Henin was right. Betrayed down the stretch by her best stroke, the backhand, and by her usually steely nerves, the four-time French Open champion lost to No. 7-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round Monday, ending Henin’s 24-match win streak at her favorite tourney.

“Everyone wants to see me (at) the level that I was,” said Henin, who abruptly retired in May 2008 while ranked No. 1, then returned to the tour this season and reached the Australian Open final in January. “I still have to work a lot, quite simply.”

“Obviously, beating Justine is going to give me lots and lots of confidence for the next match,” said Stosur, a French Open semifinalist in 2009 and a tour-best 18-2 on clay this year. “That’s obviously a great achievement for me, but it’s not over yet. I’m just in the quarters and going to play the No. 1 player in the world.”

That would be Serena Williams, who stumbled at the start before cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 18 Shahar Peer of Israel. Williams dropped the first seven points of the match, then immediately took nine a row and was on her way.

“I seem to always be able to turn it up during this particular stage,” said Williams, who won two of the last three Grand Slams and has 12 major titles.

The other quarterfinal in that half of the draw will be No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia against 36th-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. Jankovic beat No. 23 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-2, while Shvedova eliminated 107th-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia 6-4, 6-3.

In men’s fourth-round matches, four-time champion Rafael Nadal improved to 200-16 on clay over his career by overcoming four breaks of serve to defeat No. 24 Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. A year ago, Nadal lost in the fourth round – he was 31-0 at Roland Garros before that stunning exit against Robin Soderling – but he insisted that didn’t make him any more careful this time.

Now Nadal will meet No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, who knocked off No. 7 Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. Also Monday, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia eliminated the last U.S. man in the tournament, 98th-ranked Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga., 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, and No. 22 Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat 114th-ranked qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.