Harkleroad was made to dig deep against Hantuchova Hantuchova's defeat in pictures

Ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova was knocked out in the second round after losing to Ashley Harkleroad 7-6 (7/2) 4-6 9-7 in an absorbing contest at Roland Garros.

Hantuchova made numerous unforced errors and contrived to lose the first set after being 4-1 up in a disappointing performance.

Both players struggled to hold serve in the opening set but Harkleroad fought back from an unpromising position to snatch it on a tie-break as Hantuchova's composure deserted her.

The Slovak rallied in the second set and a break of serve in the seventh game gave her the chance to level the match at a set apiece.

The third set saw Harkleroad speed into a 5-1 lead as Hantuchova's forehand went awry but, with the match at the American's mercy, she seemed to tense up and a run of five games allowed Hantuchova to edge 6-5 in front.

Hantuchova looked to have broken Harkleroad's spirit, but the 18-year-old displayed admirable resolve in a nail-biting climax to edge out her opponent after three hours and nine minutes of dramatic tennis.

But unlike Hantuchova most of the other top players had little trouble.

Top seed Serena Williams had another easy win as she beat Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian 6-3 6-2.

The world number one, who is bidding to win her fifth grand slam on the trot, later sent shivers down the spines of her rivals by declaring she has "never played at 100%".

Fourth seed Justine Henin-Hardenne needed just an hour and 13 minutes to see off Croatia's Jelena Kostanic 6-2 6-2.

Amelie Mauresmo, the home favourite and fifth seed, cruised past Russia's Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-1 6-2, and now meets Colombia's Fabiola Zuluaga in third round.

And eighth seed Chanda Rubin continued her fine form with a 7-6 6-3 win over Cara Black.

Rubin won the Spanish Open last week and seems to have the confidence to trouble the game's biggest stars this year.

Greece's Eleni Daniilidou, the 14th seed, was pushed to three sets before she overcame Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-0 4-6 6-2.

While Japan's 16th seed Ai Sugiyama fended off an early challenge from the Czech Republic's Sandra Kleinova 7-5 6-0.

And 19th seed Patty Schnyder from Switzerland beat Stephanie Cohen Aloro 6-3 7-6 (7/4).

But 11th seed Anastasia Myskina was not so fortunate. The talented Russian lost to Hungary's Petra Mandula 6-3 6-4.

And Argentina's Clarisa Fernandez, the 28th seed and a semi-finalist last year, was beaten by Barbara Schett 6-4 5-7 6-1. The Austrian plays Serena Williams in the next round.