Lleyton Hewitt was left a breathless, punched-out wreck on Saturday, his French Open dreams ripped from him in a brutal three-hour battle at Roland Garros.
Faced with a tough, stubborn and courageous mirror image of himself, Hewitt ran out of steam and was finally felled 4-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 by Spain's Tommy Robredo.
It was fitting that the third round epic took place on the Roland Garros bullring court as Robredo, the matador throughout, taunted Hewitt with pinpoint groundstrokes, sapping his energy before finally putting him out of his misery after three hours 24 minutes.
Standing arms aloft in the centre of the intimate arena with clay hanging to his clothing, the Spaniard soaked up the crowd's adulation before embracing friends in the stands. "There is nothing better than to keep going when you're two sets down and beat the world number one like this," he said. "I'm delighted of course."
Three-times champion Gustavo Kuerten or Argentine Gaston Gaudio are next up for him. While top seed Hewitt wilted under a fierce Parisian sun, defending champion Albert Costa survived another exhausting encounter.
Iron Will
The Spaniard was once again stretched to breaking point, needing more than four-and-a-half hours to reach the fourth round. His 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti was a third consecutive five-set win for the ninth seed and proof, if any were needed, of his iron will and supreme fitness. "I still don't understand how I managed to hold on until the end of the game," Costa said before leaving court after the marathon. "These five sets were terrible. I gave everything I had."
Lapentti was left a broken man, hobbling round the court with sweat pouring off his face as Costa came back from the brink of defeat to set up a clash with home favourite Arnaud Clement for a place in the quarter-finals.
"I shall remember this game all my life for two reasons," the Ecuadorean said. "Firstly, I could have won in the fourth set and also because of my cramps in the fifth."
Juan Carlos Ferrero -- runner-up to Costa last year -- advanced relatively smoothly, bouncing back from the loss of the opening set to beat Britain's Tim Henman 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. He next meets countryman Felix Mantilla.
Complete Contrast
In complete contrast to the heroics of Costa and Robredo, the leading lights of women's tennis slipped into the fourth round almost unnoticed.
Kim Clijsters, Jennifer Capriati and Venus Williams all swatted aside opponents in double quick time on day six of the grand slam.
Capriati, champion here in 2001, was the first of the trio into the last 16 with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 win over Julia Vakulenko in less than an hour. "It was easy most of the way," said the seventh seed.
She next meets Russian Nadia Petrova who ousted Marissa Irvin of the US 6-1, 6-1 on an outside court.
Capriati's victim in that 2001 final here, Kim Clijsters, romped through on centre court. The Belgian, seeded second, powered into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Argentine claycourter Paola Suarez.
"I started playing really well from the beginning of the match, really kept her under pressure," Clijsters said. Magdalena Maleeva is next up for her.
Venus Williams also maintained a high level throughout, needing just 52 minutes to advance with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Silvia Farina Elia.
There was no sign of the abdominal strain that had hampered her in the last round.
The American third seed -- a runner-up here last year to younger sister Serena -- next meets Russia's Vera Zvonareva who beat Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain 6-3, 6-4.
The trio were joined by sixth seed Lindsay Davenport who struggled with a foot injury before overcoming France's Nathalie Dechy 6-3, 7-5.
The American -- seeking to win the only grand slam missing from her collection -- received treatment in the second set for the injury. She now plays Spain's Conchita Martinez who beat Slovenia's Tina Pisnik 6-3, 6-3.
