A swashbuckling Marat Safin took 24 minutes to finish off Felix Mantilla at the French Open today, finally beating the Spaniard 11-9 in the fifth set of a match carried over from Thursday.
The moustachioed Russian eventually triumphed 6-4 2-6 6-2 6-7 11-9 to reach the third round of the claycourt grand slam. His relief was palpable as he hugged the Spaniard at the net following the four-hour, 38-minute marathon.
Safin takes his place against Potito Starace for a place in the fourth round. Briton Tim Henman played a dream of a match to hammer Spain's Galo Blanco 7-6 6-1 6-2 and move into the last 16 of the French Open for the first time on his ninth visit here.
Henman will play unseeded Frenchman Michael Llodra for a place in the quarter-finals.
In women's draw, Russia's Maria Sharapova stormed through to the fourth round with an impressive 6-3 7-6 victory over compatriot and 10th seed Vera Zvonareva.
The 17-year-old Siberian, seeded 18th, blasted past her fellow Russian, who beat Venus Williams en route to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last year.
Florida-based Sharapova faces unseeded German Marlene Weingaertner for a place in the quarter-finals.
In the later action home favourite Amelie Mauresmo dispatched Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3 6-2. The third seed gave a confident display in front of a packed centre court crowd, wrapping up victory in 67 minutes.
Mauresmo, whose best Roland Garros performance was reaching the quarter-finals last year, made her experience tell against an opponent making her debut in the main draw.
The 24-year-old Frenchwoman faces Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, the 21st seed, in round four. American Lindsay Davenport plays fellow American Marissa Irvin.