The ripples have begun to disrupt the calm atmosphere around Roland Garros as the lesser known players discovered within them the ability to upend the more fancied stars, setting sail on a course that will take them into the exalted realms of the second week of this demanding Grand Slam tournament on the red clay of Paris. Samantha Stosur continued to build on a wonderful year, to come from behind to oust the much favoured Justine Henin of Belgium. Nicolas Almagro put himself in the fiery path of Rafael Nadal, by winning against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round on Monday.

Meanwhile, the King of Clay found all the answers to the probing questions posed by Thomaz Bellucci, who gave us a glimpse of the kind of future warrior that will challenge the emperor's iron grip on his clay fortress. The young Brazilian has shown in Paris that he is a worthy heir to the legacy of his hero Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten, but Rafa asked of him more than he was ever prepared for. He will leave Paris knowing that he has work left to do if he is to consistently challenge for second week glory, but also with the confidence that he has the ingredients necessary to do so. Nadal needed only three sets, but the second and third were intensely competitive as Bellucci tested the world number two with some powerful forehand strokes.

Gloomy conditions on Sunday couldn't prevent four men from leaving Roland Garros with smiles on their faces as top seed and defending champion Roger Federer led a brigade of challengers through to the quarter-finals of the French Open. Federer was the first man through as he overcame a minor stutter in the second set to get past good friend and Olympic doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 in a little over two hours. A re-enactment of last year's final awaits us in the Quarters as a red hot Robin Soderling kept his date with Federer with an impressive straight set annihilation of Croatian Marin Cilic. The other quarter-final in the top half of the draw will feature 11th seed Mikhail Youzhny and 15th seed Tomas Berdych, with the former advancing in less than half-an-hour against an injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while the latter pulled off a mild upset ending Andy Murray's French fantasy.

After having come under severe criticism in the global media for their scheduling of matches, and Justine Henin having to play five consecutive days, the organizers reacted by scheduling the four women's singles fourth round matches first, leaving the men as the main attraction later in the day. Roger Federer opened proceedings for the men on Court Philippe Chatrier as he took on compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, the 20th seed.

An exciting second Sunday of the French Open saw the tournament lose its second seed as Venus Williams' quest for a first ever French Open title was forced to be delayed by another year. Former world no.3 Nadia Petrova out hit the senior Williams, and was fully deserving of her win. Joining Petrova in the last 8 were no.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki and no.5 seed Elena Dementieva, who produced the most contrasting of wins. The former slugging it out for 3 hours, while the latter barely broke a sweat. Somewhere in between these anomalies was Italian Francesca Schiavone, who overcame the spirited challenge of young Maria Kirilenko. A round further back, Justine Henin won her 24th straight match at Roland Garros, but not before giving her fans a real scare.

Nadia Petrova won the battle of the big hitters on Philippe Chatrier, pulling off a shock upset win over 7-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in exactly an hour and a half. One would have expected Petrova to be a little sluggish after her marathon performance against home favourite Aravane Rezai in the previous round, however, except for a slightly sluggish start, where it took her a while to get her feet moving, the Russian produced a very creditable performance.

It was a mixed bag here today at Roland Garros, as some seeds got through, some were pushed to the brink and yet others upset. Rafael Nadal beat Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets, Novak Djokovic took care of Victor Hanescu in 4, while Sam Stosur and Jelena Jankovic both came through in straight sets to head category 1. Serena Williams dropped a set to Pavlyuchenkova before coming through & Fernando Verdasco was also stretched to a decider by Philip Kohlschreiber as they headed category 2. Andy Roddick & David Ferrer though fell clearly into category 3 as they exited the tournament to unfancied opponents remarkably both in straight sets. Finally, the marquee match-up of the day, undoubtedly the third round encounter between Justine Henin & Maria Sharapova, will be decided on the morrow as bad light cut this epic encounter sadly short at a set apiece 6-2, 3-6.

The French Open organisers clearly like to save the best for the last and thanks to Rafa's penchant for prolonged torture of his opponents before burying them were further delayed in coming onto court. But when they finally did, it was worth it. Justine Henin was the favourite coming into the game given her past success on this surface and Maria's lack thereof. When in 10 minutes the little Belgian had gone up 3-0 with two breaks of serve it looked like this would be a quick and clean execution. Not to be. Realising that she had no chance of just trying to hang in there with Henin, Sharapova showed great thought & determination in being willing to change the gameplan. To prevent Henin from taking control of the rallies Sharapova had to keep Henin pinned beyond the baseline. On her own serve she had to get plenty of first serves in to setup the point. For the next hour she set about doing just those things. Playing like she was possessed, Sharapova began to hit with power, depth, accuracy and consistency. She stepped up on the return and started going after the Henin serve, especially the second serve. So prolonged was this execution that after going up 3-0, Henin had the measly solitary easy service game till the end of the second set. Henin though is not a 4 time French winner for nothing. Pushed as she was, she still dug deep, hung on and held serve the next 3 games to take the first set 6-2.

On a gloomy and windy day in Paris, Serena Williams' fighting spirit shone through, as the 12-time Grand Slam winner showed the world why she was one of the best in the game. The American battled illness and a determined opponent in the person of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, as she defeated the 18-year old Russian, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

Serena, who had come through a crushing win against Julia Georges in the previous round, looked all set to have a repeat performance against Pavlyucheckova, but the Russian who is ranked 29 in the world did not let go of the match till the last minute. This match was the first real test for Serena and she would be relieved that she came out on top despite serious health concerns.

The entire Indian contingent was out on court today as Paes, Bhupathi & Bopanna all played their matches this morning here at Roland Garros. It was far from smooth sailing though for the Indian veterans though as they were put to the test by their 2nd round opponents. Leander Paes partnering Lukas Dlouhy managed to pass the test winning a close match in the third set 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while Mahesh Bhupathi teaming with Max Mirnyi had an off day as they were eliminated in two tight sets 4-6, 6-7(4). The young gun in the Indian squad, Rohan Bopanna partnering Pakistani Aisam Ul Haq Qureshi cruised through to the 2nd round in quick time 6-2, 6-3.

Playing on Court 17, Leander Paes & Lukas Dlouhy were once again put through the grinder in their 2nd rounder against Yves Allegro & Andreas Beck. Leander Paes as is his wont got off to a quick start playing a crucial hand in the early break of the Beck serve. They lost that advantage very quickly and just about managed to prevent a total turnaround by holding to 4-4. The next game was a crucial one and both Paes & Dlouhy came up with huge return winners to set up break point. "Rip!!" yelled Leander as Dlouhy had time on the short forehand & doing precisely that the champions broke and then took the set courtesy a Leander second serve ace.