Mikhail Youzhny was having such a bad day in the third round of the French Open that he felt the need to apologize, right on court during the match.
The 27th-seeded Russian scraped the word "sorry" - actually "SORRi!" - into the clay with his right foot in the middle of his 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 loss to No. 6 David Ferrer on Saturday.
"There was a lot of people. That's why I write `sorry.' Because I can't show them a nice game," Youzhny said. "The way we played in the beginning, it was not really interesting for people."
Youzhny is well-known for a more painful on-court meltdown. In 2008 at the Sony Ericsson Open, Youzhny whacked himself in the head with his racket three times after losing a point. The antic left him with a thick stream of blood running from his hairline down his nose.
Also Saturday, defending champion Rafael Nadal beat Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to improve his French Open record to 48-1. And Maria Sharapova completed her third straight rout, defeating Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-1. Sharapova has lost only five games through three matches at Roland Garros this year.
"In the next round, it starts from 0-0. Whoever you're playing, you have to go and try and do the same thing," Sharapova said. "There are a lot more rounds to go. It just gets tougher from this point."
Against Ferrer, Youzhny won his first game early in the second set, making it 2-1. He held serve at love when Ferrer sent a forehand return into the net.
But instead of heading straight for his chair for the changeover, he stopped just inside the service line and started writing out his message.
A ball boy stood nearby with Youzhny's towel, and then backed off as the Russian continued drawing out the letters.
"People in the stands may not have noticed, but I think I had to do this," Youzhny said.
Ferrer said he didn't even see it.
"I don't know why he put this in the court, but I don't haveara Lepchenko of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 and fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova advanced by beating Nina Bratchikova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.
Defending champion Li Na also advanced, but needed three sets to defeat Christina McHale of the United States 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Lepchenko, who was born in Uzbekistan but now lives in Pennsylvania, is unseeded at Roland Garros and had never before made it past the second round at any Grand Slam tournament.
She had 44 unforced errors against Schiavone, but still managed to advance.
"It's her court, you know," Lepchenko said. "I knew that she's not going to give it for free. I had to work really hard, and I did."
Schiavone won her only Grand Slam title at the French Open two years ago. Last year, she lost to Li Na in the final.
Kvitova is the only player ranked in the top 10 that has not yet reached a final this year. But she missed some tournaments with injury and illness.
"I had already a tough season. After Australia I was really injured and I couldn't play," said Kvitova, who won her first Grand Slam title at last year's Wimbledon. "So I'm happy that I can play right now and I can be healthy and play my tennis again."
AP