Paris, June 4 :

With a stunning comeback against Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina made her big brother proud.

The sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin, Safina erased a 5-1 deficit in the final set, won 18 of the last 21 points and beat Sharapova 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 on Sunday at the French Open.

Sharapova, seeded fourth, failed to convert two set points in the opening set, then rallied but couldn’t close out the victory.

She was twice broken serving for the match, hitting errant forehands on three consecutive points to lose serve for 5-all.

The tournament was the first since April 1 for Sharapova, who withdrew from two events leading up to Roland Garros because of a right ankle injury.

Safina will next play former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. The No 8-seeded Kuznetsova lost her serve seven times but rallied past ninth-seeded Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In men’s third-round play, Ivan Ljubicic defeated Juan Monaco, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Ljubicic overcame a two-set deficit for the third time in his career and improved to 6-12 in five-set matches.

Another Croatia, Mario Ancic, reached quarter-finals in Paris for the first time, beating Tommy Robredo 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.