Defending champion Li Na needed three sets to reach the fourth round of the French Open on Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Li, who last year became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title, held on to beat Christina McHale of the United States 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Li committed 44 unforced errors in the match, 20 more than her unseeded opponent.

The last woman to successfully defend her title at Roland Garros was Justine Henin, who won three straight from 2005-07.

Earlier, 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 "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.

"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."

Also Saturday, 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone was upset by Varvara Lepchenko of the US 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, and fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova defeated Nina Bratchikova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-1.

Schiavone won her only Grand Slam title at the French Open two years ago. Last year, she lost to Li in the final.

(China Daily 06/03/2012 page7)