Bookies' favourite for women's title takes a step closer to grand slam glory

Three of the players who will fancy their chances of picking up a first grand slam title in a very open women's draw made smooth progress through to the fourth round of the French Open yesterday.

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka was the bookmakers' favourite at the start of the tournament, despite never having been past the quarter-finals at a slam, and she wrapped up another straight-sets victory today, beating 30th seed Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-2.

China's Li Na was even more impressive, the sixth seed needing only 61 minutes to see off Romanian Sorana Cirstea. She will face ninth seed Petra Kvitova, who defeated American Vania King 6-4, 6-2.

Defeat for world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, who won only four games against Daniela Hantuchova, again prompted questions about the Dane's ranking.

Azarenka gave a stout defence of her friend, saying: "I saw Caroline and she was upset and devastated about the loss. But she's 20 years old, she's No.1 in the world. I mean, one little slap, even if it is at a Grand Slam, it shouldn't bring you down. I think she's an amazing player."

Azarenka was happy with her performance against Vinci after initially finding the Italian tough to figure out. She said: "I think I played very well. I was serving well and trying to be aggressive on her serve. I think she also started well and it took me a few games to adjust because she has a little bit of an unusual game."

After Kim Clijsters' demise, the Belarusian is the highest-ranked player left in the bottom half of the draw, and she is confident she has plenty left to give. She said: "I think I can improve, and I have been improving from match to match, which is important."

In the fourth round she will play Russia's Ekaterina Makarova, who was a 6-4, 7-5 winner over 16th seed Kaia Kanepi yesterday.