PARIS(AP) Novak Djokovic was as surprised as anyone by the way he played in the French Open's third round.
I cannot allow myself to have such a bad performance as I had today,'' he said.I cannot allow myself to be that defensive. This is not me. This is not my game.''
The fourth-seeded Djokovic was a semifinalist each of the past two years at Roland Garros, but he bowed out far earlier this time, losing to No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday.
The opening rounds are very dangerous because the players are a bit lower ranked and they have nothing to lose,'' Djokovic said.Philipp is a clay-court specialist and he ... played incredibly well today.''
Djokovic, the 2008 Australian Open champion, could do little right against Kohlschreiber, who was playing in the third round of the clay-court major for the first time.
He didn't give me a lot of chances. But yet again, I didn't work for those chances,'' Djokovic said.This is the problem. I played too passive, and he played really solid from all the strokes.''
Kohlschreiber said he played as good as he ever has in a big tournament.
``Maybe Novak didn't play his best today,'' said Kohlschreiber, who joins Tommy Haas in giving Germany two men in the French Open's fourth round for the first time since 1996.
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DEMENTIEVA'S OPINION: Count 2004 French Open finalist Elena Dementieva among those who aren't so sure Rafael Nadal will win a record fifth consecutive title.
He actually looks a little bit tired to me,'' said Dementieva, who lost to Samantha Stosur on Saturday.Even (though) he's winning pretty easily his first two rounds, it doesn't look like he's fresh enough. Maybe he was playing too much.''
The top-seeded Nadal plays Robin Soderling on Sunday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Only Nadal and Bjorn Borg have won the tournament four times in a row.
``I think it's going to be a tough challenge for him to win this time, actually,'' Dementieva said.
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NERVES ASIDE: After losing 11 of her last 13 tournament finals, Svetlana Kuznetsova may be coming to terms with her nerves.
The seventh-seeded Russian advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Saturday by beating Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-3.
Definitely, I have nerves, and it's fine,'' said Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion.The important thing is to accept it and control it.''
Part of her new approach to tennis comes from her new coach, Larisa Savchenko.
Larisa is great,'' Kuznetsova said.I have a lot of confidence with her on court and off the court, and I feel very comfortable.''
Kuznetsova has been one of the most consistent players at the French Open: She's the only woman to have reached the quarterfinals in each of the past three years.
On Saturday, she had little trouble against the 62nd-ranked Czink.
I saw the court pretty well,'' Kuznetsova said.I saw the empty spots on the court, and I played there. I think I controlled all of the match.''