Tennis French Open A large double bagel for Barbara Schett. Love and love. Scorelines like this in the third round of a Grand Slam speak to you. They say whoa, whoa.

They ask whether this is really the extent of the talent gap between the first- and 51st-ranked player in the world. So you look more closely and you see it's Serena Williams, who has trimmed her court time down to 40 minutes against a player who in 1999 was ranked fourth best in the world.

It was one of those days in the women's draw where the power houses confirmed their status. Serena, in a manner in which Vlad the Impaler used to embed his enemies' bodies on giant stakes for all to see and fear, destroyed Schett and the message for her future opponents was a chilling one.

Part of it was don't mess with me and another part appeared to be don't mess with my sister either as Schett beat Venus here a couple of years ago. Surely that couldn't have come into it ?

"Well her (Venus) being my sister, maybe deep down, maybe there's something there. But playing Barbara today, I knew she'd been a pretty good player because she'd been in the top 10 before. I knew I'd to be really serious. I couldn't joke around at all," said Serena afterwards.

Well, maybe not until she gets back to their rented house to feed Venus the gory details. As if anyone needed reminding that it is her shadow cast large over this tournament, the brisk work-out actually fell comfortably into a day where the fancied players came through with ease.

Amelie Mauresmo, the fifth seed and darling of France, took a little over an hour to defeat Fabiola Zuluaga 6-3, 6-4, while Justine Henin-Hardenne, who fronts the cover of the daily magazine Le Quotidien under the headline "La Petite Belge qui monte, qui monte" took 50 minutes for a 6-1, 6-1 win over Madagascar's Dally Randriantefy.

The little Belgian who climbs up and up didn't dally. At her chopping and running best, Henin-Hardenne once more played a bigger game than her frame should allow.

"It was pretty warm today so it was good to win this way," she said. "I'm feeling much more confident and it gives me a better chance for the rest of the tournament. The first week you have a lot of surprises and you have to try and prepare for that."

Henin-Hardenne faces Switzerland's Patty Schnyder in the next round. Since Martina Hingis retired earlier this year, Schnyder has been the country's torch carrier for the game and for this event. But she may soon be relieved of that pressure.

"She is dangerous because I know she hampers the game of many of the girls on the circuit," said the little Belgian who climbs and climbs. "But I will prepare specifically for that match."