PARIS — A drizzly afternoon made the balls heavy and traction tricky on Roger Federer’s least-favorite surface. He hardly seemed bothered.
Moving one round closer to that elusive French Open title, the top-ranked Federer beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 Monday to reach the quarterfinals.
His next opponent will be No. 24-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who ended American Robby Ginepri’s surprising run at Roland Garros, 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-1. Ginepri was the last American in either singles draw.
Federer hit 23 winners despite the damp conditions. He was broken serving in each of the first two sets, but recovered to close them out, finishing the second set in steady rain that prompted a 90-minute interruption before the third set.
Federer reached the final eight for the 16th Grand Slam in a row. The French Open is the only major championship he hasn’t won.
Ginepri became the first U.S. man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003, and he hung with Gonzalez until losing serve twice in a row late in the second set.
“A disappointing performance on my part today, to not have my A game when I really expected it to be there,” Ginepri said. “At the same time, it was great last week and great tournament. I’ll probably be a little bit more happy tomorrow, but at the moment I’m a little discouraged with the way it went today.”
Gonzalez benefited from a wider variety of shotmaking than Ginepri, mixing drop shots and slices with a penetrating forehand, and looked more comfortable with his footwork on the dirt. The Chilean also showed more patience in long rallies.
“I tried to end the points too quickly,” Ginepri said. “I should have turned it more into a grind test. A five-hour grind test would have favored me a little bit more.”
Gonzalez could pose a formidable challenge for Federer. The Chilean is 16-0 this year on clay, although he withdrew before the third round in Rome because of a hamstring injury.
At No. 88, Ginepri was the lowest-ranked player left in the men’s draw. He began the tournament with an 0-5 record at Roland Garros, and by winning three matches, he clinched a berth on the U.S. Olympic team.
Elena Dementieva advanced to the women’s quarterfinals, winning five consecutive games to start the final set and beating fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.
For the No. 7-seeded Dementieva, it’s the best showing at Roland Garros since she was runner-up to champion Anastasia Myskina in 2004. Dementieva closed her victory by smacking a backhand winner, then celebrated with a whirling leap and a yelp.
“I do believe in myself,” Dementieva said. “I think I’m not a favorite to win the whole thing, but just really enjoy what I’m doing right now.”
The 11th-seeded Zvonareva committed 41 unforced errors and grew increasingly frustrated as the final set slipped away. After falling behind 3-0, she pounded the clay with her racket three times — forehand, backhand and forehand.
Dementieva and Zvonareva were among five Russian women in the final 16.
“I feel like I’m playing a Russian championship,” Dementieva said, “not Roland Garros.”
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