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 borrow 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 winning streak at her favorite tournament.
“Everyone wants to see me (at) the level that I was,” said Henin, who 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.”
Thanks to her 2005-07 titles at Roland Garros, and then the time away, it had been six years since she felt the sting of a loss at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament — all the way back in 2004’s second round.
“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 next.”
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 owns 12 major titles.
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.
Also, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia ousted the last U.S. man in the tournament, 98th- ranked Robby Ginepri of Kennesaw, Ga., 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Monday:
Stat of the day: 31 of 38 — points won by No. 22 Jurgen Mel- zer on trips to the net in his victory over Teimuraz Gabashvili
Quote of the day: “Do you want me to jump and shout? I’ll start jumping when I’ve won the tournament.” — No. 2 Rafael Nadal, after his fourth-round victory over No. 24 Thomaz Bellucci
Today’s quarterfinals: MEN — No. 1 Roger Federer vs. No. 5 Robin Soderling, No. 11 Mikhail Youzhny vs. No. 15 Tomas Berdych. WOMEN — No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki vs. No. 17 Francesca Schiavone, No. 5 Elena Dementieva vs. No. 19 Nadia Petrova.
Today’s TV: TEN — 3-10 a.m.; ESPN2 — 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
The Associated Press
