Sharapova falls to Safina in Paris

Dinara Safina upset Maria Sharapova in a ferocious Russian catfight at the French Open on Sunday to reach her first grand slam quarter-final.

The 20-year-old looked a beaten woman when she trailed 5-1 in the final set but rattled off six successive games to complete a spectacular 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 victory over the 2004 Wimbledon champion on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Safina faces another Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the last eight.

Sharapova led 5-3 in the first set and had set points but Safina stung the former Wimbledon champion, whose tournament preparations were disrupted by an ankle injury, with a series of thudding groundstrokes to break twice and sneak it 7-5.

The effort took its toll on the younger sister of former men's world number one Marat Safin. Sharapova dominated the second set and looked on course for victory when she led 5-1 in the third.

However Safina, who reached the Italian Open final last month, summoned extra power from within and left Sharapova reeling under a barrage of thundering drives down both flanks.

Safina sealed the best win of her career with a crashing backhand pass on her first match point.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, also reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time when she battled back after a terrible start to beat Italian ninth seed Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Kuznetsova also led 5-1 in the third set but unlike Sharapova, she withstood her opponent's comeback and held on to win.

On a frantic day of action, all eight women's fourth round matches and four men's fourth round matches are scheduled to be played.