Last year's finalists Francesca Schiavone and Li Na have headed in opposite directions at this year's French Tennis Open.
Schiavone, winner in 2010 and runner-up last year has been eliminated in the third round beaten in Paris by American Varvara Lepchenko, while Li, the defending champion and seventh seed, had a hard-fought win over American Christina McHale winning 3-6 6-2 6-1.
The second seed Maria Sharapova had little trouble in beating Peng Shuai of China 6-2 6-1.
In the men's draw fourth seed Andy Murray appears to have recovered from a back problem which almost forced him to withdraw from his second round match, beating Colombia's Santiago Giraldo in straight sets to advance to the top 16.
Six-time winner Rafael Nadal eased his way into the last 16 with a straightforward three-sets win in the third round, as did sixth seed David Ferrer who had an easy win over Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
