Paris ? Cap backward, his dialogue with himself rarely pausing, Marat Safin negotiated around danger once more in his zigzag path through the French Open for a shot at a second straight Grand Slam title.

He didn’t break a racket or even throw one. He kept his cursing to a mild mutter.

“It’s a one-man conversation,” he said. “Nobody’s answering, which is good.”

Down in each of the first two sets and thrashed in the third, the Russian escaped each time by calling on his full range of shots – serves in the 120-mph range; punishing, two-fisted backhands; exquisite touch for a big man on lobs and drops; and more volleys than in the past – to post a 7-6 (5), 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (2) victory Saturday over 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.

“It was a great match, I will remember it, I will get it on video,” said Safin, who spent much of his youth in Spain and still trains there.

The third-seeded Safin, reaching the round of 16 along with last year’s runner-up and No. 8 seed Guillermo Coria, has been squeezed into the background the first week of the tournament by No. 1 Roger Federer’s bid for a career Grand Slam and 18-year-old phenom Rafael Nadal’s quest for a title in his French debut.

In a woman’s third-rounder Saturday, No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo broke French fans’ hearts, double-faulting on match point and losing, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, to No. 29 Ana Ivanovic, a 17-year-old from Serbia-Montenegro.

Belgium’s Justine Henin-Hardenne, the 2003 champion, won her 20th consecutive match, all on clay, when she beat Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to set up a meeting with reigning U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, a 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 victory over American Marissa Irvin.

Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport is the only remaining American, male or female, among the 22 who entered the tournament.

No. 2 Maria Sharapova, trying to overtake Davenport for the No. 1 ranking and win the French for the first time, beat fellow 18-year-old Russian Anna Chakvetadze, 6-1, 6-4. Two other Russian women also advanced – No. 7 Nadia Petrova and No. 12 Elena Bovina.