Cynthia Lum Henin fell to Safina for the first time.

Unless she quickly rediscovers her form at Rome next week, top ranked Justine Henin will be hard pressed to defend her Roland Garros title. In her most stunning loss over the past year, the clay court lover was shocked 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 by Dinara Safina in Berlin, the first time that Russian had her way with her in five meetings.

"During the whole match I didn't have the intensity and the consistency and it was quite tough,” said Henin, who has been contending with a knee injury this year. “Not only for the French, I really wanted to use this tournament to get my confidence back. But it was not enough today - now we'll see the next few weeks.''

While panic should not set in amongst Henin’s fans, it’s clear that the Belgian is nowhere near her 2007 level. While she’s been careful about scheduling, she surely would have liked to compete more as it’s very difficult to go for one’s shotd when you are unsure of where they are headed. That’s what happens when your practice and on court time have been severely curtailed.

The tournament also nearly lost defending champ Ana Ivanovic, who finally put down Sybille Bammer 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in two and a half hours. Like Henin,, Ivanovic has had very little play over the past six weeks and is struggling to find the right combinations.

"I went into this match expecting that it might be tough because of the match we played before," said Ivanovic, who lost to the lefty Bammer at Indian Wells last year. "It wasn't easy but I'm happy I managed to get through it despite the mistakes I made. Especially in the second and third sets where I was a break up, I let my intensity down and Sybille managed to come back. It's one of these matches that are good for your confidence."

Serena Williams now looks in terrific shape to grab another crown as she wasted Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-1. That’s a very impressive score on clay over a steady, ambitious teen who grew up on dirt. That means that Serena is moving well and trusting her shots.

“I tell myself if I play well, I make it easier on myself,'' said Williams, who will face Safina. "I'm not tired, I've had a lot of time off and I am in top shape."

Ivanovic will have a very attractive match-p in the quarters when she plays teenager Agnes Szavay, who beat Marion Bartoli, 7-5, 7-5. The Hungarian is finally righting her ship after a rocky start to the season.
But third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova went down to the enigmatic seeded Alona Bondarenko 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. Bondarenko may never be a top five player but on a good day, sure fights like one.

Elena Dementieva continues to sneak up on the tour and bested Vera Dushevina 7-5, 6-3. She’ll now get to launch forehands at Jelena Jankovic, who somewhat surprisingly, easily bested Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-4.

CAN FEDERER WIN ROME?
With Rafael Nadal out of Rome, is Roger Federer now the favorite? He has to made a slight one over Novak Djokovic whom he could meet in the semis, as the Swiss has more impressive clay court credentials and seems to be gradually winding into form. On Thursday, he beat Croatia's Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-3 and will play Czech Radek Stepanek, who knocked off Luis Horna's 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Djokovic had a tougher tussle against the usually promising Igor Andreev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, who just can’t seem to deliver at the big events. The Djoker will have a very rough quarter when he’ll go up against the tireless Nicolas Almagro, who advanced when Fernando Gonzalez pulled out with a leg injury.

© TennisReporters.net 2008