NOTEBOOK French Open

Raymond finally falls: Right up until the very last point of her second-round loss, Lisa Raymond probably figured, "I still have a chance." That's because of the monumental comeback the American fashioned in her opening match. The 28th-seeded Raymond trailed 6-0, 5-0 Monday before fighting all the way back to beat Lubomira Kurhajcova of Slovakia. The final score was 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. On Wednesday, though, Raymond lost to un-seeded Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain 6-4, 6-0.
Batting .500: After a moment in the Grand Slam spotlight, Jerome Haehnel will return to the minor leagues. The 271st-ranked Frenchman, whose first career tour match was a straight-set upset of Andre Agassi on the French Open's opening day, fell to 1-1 Wednesday. Haehnel lost to countryman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Ready to rest: Fabrice Santoro is ready for some rest. He's already been on court for 113 games covering 9 hours, 54 minutes in two matches, including a 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Irakli Labadze on Wednesday. His first-round victory over Arnaud Clement ended at 16-14 in the fifth set after more than 6 1/2 hours over two days -- the longest match on record. His secret to staying out there against Labadze? Don't try so hard on each and every point. "When it was 30-love on his serve, I didn't try to catch up. When I thought he was playing well in the third set -- he was leading 4-2 -- I let him play," Santoro said. "But when I thought it was an important point, then I played 100 percent." When Santoro called for a doctor because of cramping at a tense point in the match, he decided to lighten the mood. "I thought I needed a joke to relax," Santoro said. "Well, I just said, 'I called you in to say good-bye, because I think I'm going to die.' "
China's breakthrough: Zheng Jie became just the second Chinese woman to reach the third round at a Grand Slam tournament by beating 31st-seeded Emilie Loit of France 6-4, 6-1 Wednesday. Zheng had never won a match at a major before defeating Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar in the first round at Roland Garros on Monday. The previous best showing by a woman from China at one of tennis' top four tournaments was Li Fang's run to the third round at the 1992 Australian Open. She also reached the second round at the 1994 French Open.
-- Associated Press