Venus Williams [Images] bowed out of the French Open just nine hours after sister Serena when she was beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Italian 26th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round on Friday.

Venus appeared to have picked up her sister's errant ways and rarely reproduced the form that carried her to the 2002 final and inevitably, she followed Serena out of the tournament.

"It wasn't a good day for our family but we always plan to get more determined," said Venus, who lost the 2002 final to her sister.

Pennetta, who completed victory in fading light at 2148 local time, will play Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro in her first last-16 match at Roland Garros.

"I think I played a great match," said Pennetta, who won her previous meeting with the six-time grand slam winner in Bangkok last year.

"I'm very happy about that, because it's the first time in a big stadium like this. I never played there, and it's a great victory, so I'm very happy."

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Although she started confidently, breaking in the second game, the American eighth seed dropped serve four times in the opening set, the last time in the 11th game with Pennetta following up to take command of the contest after 45 minutes.

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Pennetta continued to take advantage of her opponent's unforced errors to start the second set with a break and she broke Venus's serve a second time in the decisive game, sealing victory after 85 minutes with a forehand winner.

Venus's sister Serena had been knocked out in the third round by Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik to complete a miserable day for the Williams clan.

"She played well, I think that was the biggest problem," Venus added. "She hit a lot of lines and I wish her the best of luck in the tournament."

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