Elena Dementieva, widely regarded as the best women’s tennis player never to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament, will have to wait until Wimbledon to claim her first major title. The No. 4 seed at Roland Garros was ushered out of Paris by an Australian, in a fascinating tale of both triumph and heartbreak.

Samantha Stosur, a native of Brisbane, achieved on Saturday what a countrywoman was about to do two days earlier. Stosur, the 30th seed at the French Open, steadied her game in the third and deciding set to defeat Dementieva, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, in 2 hours and 12 minutes. The third-round win sends Stosur into Monday’s fourth round, where the Australian will meet France’s Virginie Razzano.

The poignancy of Stosur’s triumph might not register for most casual tennis fans, but this upset will certainly heal a lot of wounds Down Under. In order to understand why, one needs to recall how this matchup originally came into being.

In a fairer world, Stosur would have played fellow Aussie Jelena Dokic in the round of 32. Dokic–who stormed to the Australian Open quarterfinals a month ago in her return to Grand Slam competition–dominated Dementieva, 6-2, in the first set of Thursday’s second round at Roland Garros. With the score tied at 2-all in the second stanza, Dokic had every reason to expect that victory was hers for the taking. Considering the fact that her wayward father, Damir Dokic, was just about to stand trial for allegedly threatening to kill Australia’s Ambassador to Serbia, the mere prospect of playing more tennis had to soothe Jelena’s soul. Being able to escape from off-court troubles at the French Open would only add to the feel-good narrative authored in 2009 by the 26-year-old who grew up in Croatia but moved to Australia at age 11.

However, in a life already marked by so many bitter disappointments and untimely detours, Dokic would meet with acute and abrupt agony once again.

In the fifth game of the second set against Dementieva, Dokic–who has shown no discomfort whatsoever in her first-set romp–suddenly felt a piercing pain in her back. Dokic tried to play through the injury in the next three games, even managing to win one of them, but her body’s message became too loud and insistent to ignore. Knowing how much this French Open–her first since 2004–meant to her career, Dokic still had to retire at 3-4 in the set, and cried the cry of a luckless victim when she sat in her courtside chair just moments later. Australians of all ages, who care passionately about sports and hold tennis in particularly high esteem, felt a dagger rip through their hearts as their young heroine helplessly endured the latest in a series of searing personal setbacks.

That background helps explain why Sam Stosur’s dumping of Dementieva–though tinged with a certain sadness for the Australian people–represents a cathartic conquest marked by a certain measure of redemption. Jelena Dokic’s back injury let a struggling and sluggish Dementieva off the hook; Stosur, however, would finish the job.

The No. 30 seed prevailed over the fourth-rated Russian largely because she was able to hit through the court and play with more freedom. Stosur committed five more errors than Dementieva (38-33), but managed to hit 14 more winners (34-20) in the up-and-down encounter. In the third set alone, Dementieva hit only 2 winners, while Stosur–who was broken four times through the first two sets–held serve without facing a single break point. Her ability to establish leverage on service points, combined with a more potent array of groundstrokes, allowed Stosur to find considerable confidence at the start of the third set. That momentum only snowballed as the set continued, and as a result, a story of Australian redemption found fulfillment.

Jelena Dokic will hopefully rebound from her latest brush with misfortune. For Australian tennis fans, Samantha Stosur has already allowed a nation to bounce back. Thursday’s nightmare turned into Saturday’s salvation, at the end of a week that won’t soon be forgotten in the land Down Under.

One has to admit this much: If you’re going to act like a diva, you might as well do so in a city like Paris. The members of the WTA Tour at least have a sense of drama, if not proper decorum.

In the first week of the 2009 French Open, many of the headlines in the women’s tournament have emerged not from the shotmaking prowess of the WTA’s best players, or from soaring career accomplishments that deserve extended mention. No, the biggest media magnet in Paris has been the behavior of a few women who evidently have some growing up to do at a still-tender age.

Victoria Azarenka’s merely the latest young lady to run into a controversy that has little to do with backhands or wide-angle serves.

Azarenka, the ninth seed at Roland Garros, fought her way into the fourth round with a gutsy but emotionally volatile 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 win over 22nd-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro. Azarenka will face eighth-rated Ana Ivanovic in a highly-anticipated encounter on Monday.

Why has Azarenka drawn fire for her on-court behavior? Fellow pros Marion Bartoli and Michelle Larcher de Brito had already raised eyebrows for their own words and deeds earlier in the week, which made it theoretically more difficult for another WTA performer to gain press for something other than tennis.

Bartoli made jaws drop after her second-round exit from the tournament. Following her loss to Italy’s Tathiana Garbin, Bartoli responded to a question in her press conference by saying that Garbin’s entourage would shout from the coaches’ box after the Frenchwoman committed an unforced error. “It’s not sports(man)like. They’re Italians,” Bartoli said. Given the uproar that consumed Italy and France after the contentious 2006 World Cup Final, perhaps it’s understandable that bad blood might still exist between the two nations. Nevertheless, Bartoli’s remark represented a low point in personal diplomacy.

De Brito, a 16-year old Portuguese phenom now training at Nick Bollitieri’s IMG tennis academy in Bradenton, Florida, managed to outdo Bartoli in this game of “girls behaving badly.” Maria Sharapova’s shrieks between shots might be off-putting, but de Brito’s primal screams have–in the estimation of most tennis observers–acquired far more volume and resonance than anything uttered by her more famous Russian counterpart. This problem reached such high-pitched proportions that it disrupted de Brito’s third-round match against France’s Aravane Rezai on Friday afternoon. Rezai–complaining not just about the loudness, but also the length, of de Brito’s ear-shattering emissions–raised her objection to chair umpire Mohammad El Jenatti. De Brito entered the fray by tellling El Jenatti, “Do you ask Sharapova to keep quiet?”

The soap-operatic theater continued after Rezai won the match. At net for the postmatch “handshake,” de Brito barely touched Rezai’s hand and avoided any eye contact. Naturally, the French crowd–which can be tough on players for far more innocent displays of emotion–let loose with catcalls and whistles as de Brito left the court. It hasn’t been a good week for women in their late teens and early 20s, thrown into the pressure-cooker of a global sporting event with large pots of both prize money and prestige on the line.

Now, Victoria Azarenka has become the latest member of the WTA Tour to lose hold of her emotions in the heat of battle.

Azarenka had enough difficulties with Suarez Navarro, who reached the quarterfinals of last year’s French Open; the 19-year-old from Belarus needed 2 hours and 35 minutes to complete a two-day match suspended Friday night because of darkness. Down a set and 4-1, Azarenka found herself squarely on the ropes, but managed to pull out the second set and return to the court on Saturday afternoon with a fresh mindset. The night of sleep helped her tennis, but it didn’t improve the Belorussian’s on-court demeanor.

On Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, Azarenka displayed the impetuous nature of a teenager still learning how to comport herself before the eyes of a studious French crowd. While Suarez Navarro silently went about her business, Azarenka–who emits noticeable grunts between shots (close to Sharapova at times, but nothing remotely resembling the deafening de Brito)–reacted to good and bad moments with untoward displays of pronounced feeling. Angrily swiping her racket after errors and bemoaning bad calls, Azarenka earned little admiration on Court 1 at Roland Garros when she’d exult after hitting a terrific shot. After one of her mini-celebrations on Friday, the crowd booed Azarenka, causing the tender but talented pro to weep during a changeover. After finishing off Suarez Navarro in the third set on Saturday, Azarenka hit a ball out of the stadium–as players are known to do when they win–but the French crowd pounced on her yet again, as a reminder that her conduct over the past two and a half hours of match play didn’t meet their standards.

It’s important to remember that putting young, sheltered, often-spoiled tennis players into a global spotlight will not bring out the best in human behavior. One can only hope that for Victoria Azarenka, Marion Bartoli, and Michelle Larcher de Brito, the passage of time will allow these plucky but prickly competitors to show the better angels of their nature… on and off the tennis court. Then, prestigious events like the French Open can be appreciated for the quality of competition, and not for any antics that only serve as a distraction from the real show in town.

Through the first two rounds of the French Open, Venus Williams–who is as comfortable on red clay as a snowman in the Sahara Desert–possessed enough guile and grit to fight past opponents who lacked the chops to take her down. But as a Grand Slam event progresses and a field of 128 shrinks to 32, the level of competition quickly rises. On a sun-baked Friday at Roland Garros, the seven-time major champion encountered a third-round foe who could expose the American’s feet of clay.

Hungary’s Agnes Szavay, the 29th seed in the women’s draw, started strong and finished with poise, breaking Venus five times on her way to a convincing 6-0, 6-4 win on Court Suzanne Lenglen. While the third-seeded American is left to focus exlcusively on the women’s doubles tournament with sister Serena, Szavay moves into the fourth round or better for the third time in nine Grand Slam appearances.

In her first two matches, Venus encountered players ranked outside the top 40, a fact that–while not a guarantee of success–certainly allows an elite player to find a small but meaningful comfort zone in pressure situations. Up against the 29th-seeded Szavay, the older Williams sister never found a groove, because her 20-year-old opponent routinely sent back a harder, heavier ball that knocked Venus off balance and kept her game in disarray. Szavay stormed the bastille, in the city that gave rise to the very term, by serving up a Parisian bagel in the first set. Evidence of Venus’s complete lack of rhythm in the first set could be found in her winner-error differential: minus-11. With only 3 winners and 14 mistakes, no tennis professional–from Rafael Nadal to the lowest-ranked player in an obscure challenger event–can possibly hope to succeed. Venus did ratchet up her level of play in set two, but because the first set had been such an utter disaster, it’s not as though the American displayed superior quality for any extended period of time.

Szavay donated a break of serve to Venus at 3-all in the second set, courtesy of a double fault in somewhat windy conditions, but when given that gift, Richard Williams’s first daughter couldn’t take advantage. Venus committed only two double faults in the 81-minute match, but one of them came on break point, enabling the Hungarian to get back on serve and ultimately establish a 5-4 lead. Serving just to stay alive and prolong the match–which she successfully did at 4-5 in the third set of her second-round match against Lucie Safarova on Thursday–Venus couldn’t turn the trick this time around. Up against a better and tougher opponent, the third seed–who hit only one ace all afternoon–could not win the cheap and quick service points that are so essential to her game. Szavay closed out the round of 32 tussle on her first match point, booking a ticket for the second Sunday of this three-Sunday tournament.

As noted above, this win gives Szavay another trip to the round of 16 in a slam singles event. What’s even more impressive for the 20-year-old is the fact that her three journeys into the second week of a slam (one of them took her to the 2007 U.S. Open quarterfinals) have come on three separate surfaces: U.S. Open hardcourt (‘07), Wimbledon grass (‘08), and now the terre battue of Paris. Szavay isn’t on the cusp of a top 10 ranking, but with more steady showings at slams, the 29th seed at Roland Garros could climb up the rankings list and become an even bigger factor on the WTA Tour.

In horse racing, “winning by a head” represents a very small margin between the winner and the runner-up. In tennis, the same phrase could accurately characterize the way in which champions so frequently fend off talented challengers in the early rounds of Grand Slam tournaments. After surviving a scare from amped-up Argentine Jose Acasuso in the second round of the French Open, Roger Federer once again showed why the mind–even more than a monster serve or a lethal forehand–is the biggest single weapon in the sport that’s made him a global icon.

On a cloudy Thursday in Paris, Federer–on the verge of trailing two sets to one–rallied from a 5-1 third-set to topple Acasuso, 7-6 (8), 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2. The four-set triumph, achieved in 3 hours and 25 minutes of unpredictable parrying, sends Federer to the third round, where he’ll meet Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu on Saturday.

The second seed at Roland Garros, intent on playing a full two weeks in France, came perilously close to playing merely two matches at the year’s claycourt major. Based on the disjointed form he displayed over the past three months on tour, one might have been inclined to think–without seeing this match live–that Federer once again shanked a stack of shots and never found a groove against Acasuso, a wondrously artistic performer who reached the fourth round of this tournament in 2005.

That wasn’t the case, however, on a day when a light rain slowed the clay and reshaped the calculus of the confrontation on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Federer entered the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against Acasuso, but those three wins all came on hardcourts. Acasuso’s impressive but expansive strokes–not economical or compact, but formidable if the Argentine gets a good look at the ball–are better suited for a slow clay court, and after a first round in which hot conditions hardened the red clay of Paris, the damp second-round conditions played right into the hands–not to mention the wheelhouse–of the South American.

Acasuso spent the first two and a half hours of the match (essentially, the first two and a half sets; the first three sets took 2 hours and 55 minutes to complete) keeping Federer on the defensive. The Argentine hit with consistent depth and appreciable spin to deny the world No. 2 the ability to unload his forehand for winners. With that said, Thursday’s throwdown wouldn’t have been very competitive if Acasuso didn’t have a big arrow in the bag, and that devastating weapon was put to good use to supplement the South American’s tactically sound approach.

While generally playing with a high margin for error, Acasuso brought the heavy artillery he needed to close down points against the Swiss superstar. The 26-year-old routinely uncorked a hard, flat, inside-outside forehand that repeatedly pinned Federer to his comparatively weak backhand corner. Rarely employing a down-the-line forehand, Acasuso–not wanting to hit backhands of his own–was able to gain leverage in rallies by employing his favorite shot. Federer didn’t spend this match hitting the shoulder-level backhands that have given him trouble on red clay, but with Acasuso pounding the forehand to the left sideline of the court, Federer’s backhands were rendered impotent in an unusual but unquestionably effective manner. The Swiss was fortunate to win the first set after surviving four set points, and unfortunate to drop a second set in which he made 69 percent of his first serves. All in all, though, the larger storyline had solidified: Acasuso was contesting the match on even terms, and deserved to fight through at least four sets of tennis. When Federer’s game unraveled at the start of the third set, Acasuso–to the amazement of everyone in the stadium–roared to a 5-1 lead and appeared ready to put the world No. 2 in a hole.

That’s when forehands and tactics ceased to matter, and the brain–that most potent yet puzzling of organs–took hold of his high-drama donnybrook.

Acasuso tweaked his ankle when serving at 4-1 in the third, but the ATP trainer never came on court. When the Argentine held for 5-1, it seemed that the incident would have little bearing on the remainder of the match. But then a wound greater than a tiny ankle twitch sabotaged the South American: A complete loss of composure.

Even when leading 5-2 (a double-break advantage as opposed to a single break), Acasuso’s body language began to acquire a noticeably hangdog appearance. Federer, smelling an opening, broke for 3-5 and held for 4-5. Given a second chance to serve for a two sets to one advantage, Acasuso continued to spray and sail the shots he’d been so consistently converting just minutes before. Federer broke for 5-all and–in a telltale third-set tiebreak–sniffed the finish line when the Argentine blew an easy backhand pass at 1-3. From that moment on, Acasuso–muttering to himself and his coach in the stands–painfully but plainly folded the tent. The fourth set came and went in 30 breezy minutes, nd Federer had made his great escape.

Inside-out forehands and clay-friendly groundstrokes are all well and good, but if the mind isn’t right, Grand Slam matches won’t fall in your favor. Just ask a gutted Jose Acasuso and a relieved Roger Federer after another Houdini act for the 13-time major champion.