Safina beats Sharapova to reach quarters

PARIS, June 2 (UPI) -- Dinara Safina saved a match point and went on to upset World No. 1 Maria Sharapova Monday in fourth-round women's play at the French Open.

Safina, seeded 13th, beat top-seeded Sharapova 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 fashion. The 22-year-old Safina is on a 10-match winning streak, which includes victories over former top-ranked players Justine Henin and Serena Williams.

The 21-year-old Sharapova is a three-time major champion, including the 2008 Australian Open, who needs to win the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.

Safina, a top-20 player since 2005, also upset fellow Russian Sharapova in three sets in the fourth round here two years ago.

Safina's quarterfinal opponent will be another fellow Russian, seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva, a former French Open finalist who beat Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 Monday.

Dementieva, 26, appeared in two Grand Slam finals in 2004, including in the French Open where she lost to Anastasia Myskina in an all-Russian match.