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.

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