31 May 2009

Fourth seeds fall at French Open

12:57 pm on 31 May 2009

Men's fourth seed Novak Djokovic has been knocked out of the French Open third round, beaten 6-4 6-4 6-4 by Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and woman's fourth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia was also beaten, losing in three sets to the Australian Samantha Stosur.

Djokovic said Kohlschreiber did not give him any chances and that the game was "just a bad day at the office as they say."

It was Djokovic's earliest exit in Paris since 2005.

Djokovic, one of the in-form players on clay, had looked comfortable leading 4-1 in the opening set before allowing the 29th seed to take control with an array of fierce cross-court shots.

Kohlschreiber, who had never progressed beyond the second round at Roland Garros until this year, will face either Spaniard Tommy Robredo, the 16th seed, or Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina in the fourth round.

Dementieva, the 27-year-old Olympic champion, said she was not in good shape.

She is the second big name to fall from the women's side after third seed Venus Williams went out on Saturday (NZT).