Sixth seed Andy Roddick was stunned by an inspired performance from Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili here on Saturday, as the seeds began to fall at the French Open.
Third seed Novak Djokovic took his place in the fourth round by beating Romanian 31st Victor Hanescu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, but ninth seed David Ferrer fell to defeat against Jurgen Melzer, the Austrian 22nd seed. Melzer defeated the Spaniard 6-4, 6-0, 7-6(1) and will now meet giant-killer Gabashvili, who won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 against Roddick, for a place in the quarterfinals.
In doubles action, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna scored contrasting wins with their respective partners but Mahesh Bhupathi made a shock exit along with Max Mirnyi.
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Defending champion and third seeds Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic booked a pre-quarterfinal berth with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over unseeded pair of Swiss Yves Allegro and Andreas Beck of Germany.
However, Bhupathi and Mirnyi had disappointment in store as they lost 4-6, 6-7(4) to Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and Pere Riba in the second round.
Earlier, Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi scored an easy 6-2, 6-3 win over Italian Fabio Fognini and American Michael Russell.
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Serena pulls through
Meanwhile in the women's section, top seed Serena Williams survived a health scare, while Russia's Nadia Petrova defeated Roland Garros golden girl Aravane Rezai in a marathon, centre court comedy of errors.
Williams, the 2002 champion, beat Russia's 29th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16, but needed treatment after going 0-5 down in the second set, having cruised through the opener. She had her pulse tested and temperature taken courtside. ,Williams, despite appearing uncomfortable, then broke twice in the final set and will face Israel's Shahar Peer for a place in the quarterfinals.
Kuznetsova ousted
However on Friday, defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was dumped out after losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to 30th seeded Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko.
In mixed doubles, Leander Paes and Cara Black began their campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 over the local pair of Pauline Parmentier and Marc Gicquel.