| GEO Sports | | Henin, Nadal cruise at French Open tennis | Updated at: 1020 PST, Wednesday, May 26, 2010
 PARIS: Justine Henin and Rafael Nadal each kept on course for their fifth French Open titles, but twice-beaten finalist Dinara Safina crashed out.
Henin beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-3, while Nadal eased past French teenager Gianni Mina 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
But Russian ninth seed Safina had a day to forget, as the former world number one fell 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 to Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm.
Men's sixth seed Andy Roddick came through a five-setter to beat Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 and there were also wins for Lleyton Hewitt and Spanish seeds David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero.
Former world number one Maria Sharapova, the Russian 12th seed, brushed off 18-year-old compatriot Ksenia Pervak to win 6-3, 6-2, while French 13th seed Marion Bartoli won 6-2, 6-3 against Italy's Maria Elena Camerin.
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, the seventh seed, eased past Russia's Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, but Argentine 26th seed Juan Monaco fell 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to Slovenian qualifier Grega Zemlja, the world 141.
Ninth seed Ferrer triumphed 6-1 6-3 6-1 over Frenchman David Guez, with Ferrero, the number 16 seed, a 6-4 6-3 6-1 winner against Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas, but 18th seed Sam Querrey of the USA lost in four sets to countryman Robby Ginepri.
Australia's Hewitt, the 28th seed, took his place in the last 64 by beating France's Jeremy Chardy 7-5, 6-0, 6-4 in a match that ended with a dramatic rainstorm after three days of blazing heat in Paris.
|  |
|
