Williams survives, Sharapova doesn’t

PARIS — For the third match in a row at the French Open, Serena Williams was oddly out of sorts at the outset and dropped the opening set Monday.

And for the third match in a row, almost as though this was the plan all along, Williams righted herself to pull out a victory.

In a riveting two-hour showdown between the last two American women in the draw, the No. 1ranked and No. 1-seeded Williams was a game away from defeat Monday, then came back to beat Sloane Stephens 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Williams reached the quarterfinals and avoided joining defending champion Maria Sharapova on the way out of Roland Garros.

“It’s not how you start, I guess. It’s how you finish,” Williams said. “That’s kind of how I’m looking at it.”

The eventual outcome seemed certain once Williams pulled even by taking the second set. She is 10-0 in three-setters this season.

Williams is 29-1overall in 2015 and owns an 18-match Grand Slam winning streak, including championships at the U.S. Open and Australian Open.

Her quarterfinal opponent is 2012 runner-up Sara Errani, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Julia Goerges.

Sharapova was outplayed throughout a 7-6 (3), 6-4 loss to 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova.

“My opponent had a different gear than I did,” Sharapova said after her earliest exit since 2010.

On a day full of tennis’ biggest names, the Big 4 of the men’s game — Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray — all won.

The top-seeded Djokovic and nine-time French Open champion Nadal will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday, a rematch of last year’s final.

Nadal eliminated the last U.S. man, Jack Sock, 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, while Djokovic had no trouble in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win over Richard Gasquet.

Federer needed about an hour to finish his 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Gael Monfils in a match suspended because of darkness after the second set Sunday.

Federer next faces Swiss Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka, and Murray will play 2013 French Open runner-up David Ferrer.