Capriati, Williams cruise

American seeds Jennifer Capriati and Serena Williams blasted their way into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday with straightforward third-round victories.

Fourth seed Capriati, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 1990 at the age of 14, lost her opening service game to love before beating Croatian Mirjana Lucic 6-3,, 6-1 in 51 minutes on an overcast and blustery Centre Court.

Williams, the sixth seed, also lost her first game but cruised through 6-1, 6-2 against Hungarian Zsofia Gubacsi on Court Suzanne Lenglen to match her best ever performance at the French Open.

Later on Saturday, women's top seed Martina Hingis faces Australian Rachel McQuillan on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

In the men's singles, second seed Marat Safin of Russia takes on Frenchman Fabrice Santoro on Centre Court, and Andre Agassi, the American third seed, plays Brazilian Fernando Meligeni.