Capriati was barely tested by Vakulenko Pictures from Roland Garros

The 2001 champion Jennifer Capriati had few problems reaching the last 16 with a comfortable straight sets win over Julia Vakulenko of the Ukraine.

The American swept aside her opponent 6-1 6-2 in just 57 minutes to set up a meeting with Russian Nadia Petrova for a place in the quarter-finals.

Capriati was in control throughout the game against an opponent making her Grand Slam debut in Paris.

She broke the 19-year-old Vakulenko's serve three times to take the first set in 25 minutes.

It was more of the same in the second as she ran out an easy winner, sealing qualification on her third match point when her opponent hit long.

Second seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium also found it easy reaching the fourth round, beating Argentina's Paola Suarez 6-2 6-1.

The Belgian stormed into a 4-0 lead after only 12 minutes before Suarez found her range.

A couple of Clijsters errors allowed Suarez pull back a couple of games but the Belgian recovered to hold to love and then clinch the set when Suarez hit long from the backcourt.

Clijsters went on to dominated the second set and secured her victory on her second match point.

Third seed Venus Williams also breezed into the last 16 with a 6-1 6-2 win over Silvia Farina Elia of Italy.

The 26th seed had been expected to cause Williams problems, especially given the American's stomach problems, but it turned out to be a one-sided encounter.

Fellow American Lindsay Davenport struggled through to the last 16 with victory against Nathalie Dech.