Baghdatis progresses past injured Hajek

Marcos Baghdatis progressed through to the fourth round of the French Open on Saturday after his opponent Jan Hajek withdrew because of injury midway through their clash on Suzanne Lenglen court.

Hajek was already two sets down to the 2006 Australian Open runner-up when he quit prior to the start of the third.

Cyprus' Baghdatis, the 16th seed, had won the first two sets by a 6-2 margin.

It was later confirmed that a shoulder injury was behind Hajek's withdrawal.

Baghdatis will play Igor Andreev in the last 16, following the unseeded Russian's 7-6 (7/4) 6-0 6-3 win over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu on a sun-kissed Philippe Chatrier court.

Andreev, who eliminated third seed Andy Roddick in the first round, is a dangerous floater in the draw.

Elsewhere, Jonas Bjorkman, the oldest man in this year's men's singles, proved age was no barrier as he surged past fellow unseeded player Oscar Hernandez in four sets.

Doubles-specialist Bjorkman, aged 35 and ranked 39 in the world, is far from at home on clay, but his remarkable campaign continued as he secured a 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-0 6-1 win over the Spaniard on Court 7.

Bjorkman, twice a grand-slam semi-finalist and competing here for the 14th straight year, is the first Swedish man to advance to the last 16 at Roland Garros since Thomas Enqvist in 2001.

Bjorkman will next meet 23rd-seed Carlos Moya, the 1998 champion who ran through Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6-1 6-3 7-5 on Court 1.

Aside from holder Rafael Nadal, Moya is the only former champion left in the draw, and he eased past 134th-ranked Brzezicki.

Novak Djokovic was made to work harder than expected to claim his place in the fourth round, with unseeded Frenchman Olivier Patience taking the highly-rated Serbian to five sets.

Djokovic eventually triumphed 7-6 (7/2) 2-6 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 in a thrilling match, with Patience doubtless left rueing the opportunity he let slip in the seventh game of the final set.

With the duel locked at 3-3, the home favourite passed up a golden chance to break serve and allowed Djokovic to hit back from 0-40 to hold.

The 20-year-old did not look back, and went on to decisively break the Patience serve in the next game and then hold to win a gruelling match in just over four hours.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal wasted little time in progressing with a straight-sets victory over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes.

Second seed Nadal, winner at Roland Garros for the past two years, advanced with the minimum of fuss courtesy of a 6-1 6-3 6-2 win in two hours and 21 minutes.