PARIS (AFP) - Dinara Safina sent top seed Maria Sharapova crashing out of the French Open on Monday to throw the Roland Garros title chase wide open.

Safina battled back from a set and 2-5 down, and also saved a match point, to see off her Russian compatriot 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals for the second time where she will meet countrywoman Elena Dementieva.

Seventh seed Dementieva, who was runner-up to Anastasia Myskina in 2004, made the last eight with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over yet another Russian Vera Zvonareva.

In the day's two remaining fourth round ties, Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian fourth seed, was leading Belarussian 16th seed Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-2 when fading light caused a suspension until Tuesday.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Estonia's Kaia Kanepi were level at 3-6, 6-3 when play was also halted for the day.

Monday's famous victory was Safina's third win in six career meetings against her fellow Russian and postponed, at least for another year, Sharapova's dreams of winning the only Grand Slam title to have eluded her.

"I had many opportunities but I guess it was a combination of not taking those chances and being a little unlucky at times," said Sharapova.

"Physically you have to stick with her. She's had great success on clay and is a really tough opponent on this surface. It went in the wrong direction really fast. It was just one of those days."

Safina, the 13th seed, demonstrated her claycourt credentials in May when she won the lucrative Berlin tournament, beating Justine Henin, to send the former world number one into retirement, Serena Williams and then Dementieva in the final.

"After my title in Berlin, this was one of my best matches and one of my best comebacks," said Safina who saved a match point in the ninth game of the second set and was also 2/5 down in the tiebreaker which followed.

"I knew I could beat her but I put too much pressure on myself and was way too passive. I was too dependent on her and I was 2-5 down in the second set and facing a match point.

"But I hit a winner on her match point and it changed things."

Dementieva said she was getting used to facing her compatriots.

"I feel like I'm playing in the Russian championships," said Dementieva who had defeated Vera Dushevina in the first round.

Zvonareva, a quarter-finalist in 2003 and who had beaten Dementieva in the semi-finals of the Charleston claycourt tournament in April, looked on course for victory after dominating the second set.

But she then suffered the kind of final set meltdown which has dogged her throughout her career.

Her brittle on-court temperament allowed the 26-year-old Dementieva to race to a 5-0 lead in the decider before she managed to avoid a whitewash by taking the sixth and seventh games.

But her suspect service failed her in the eighth game and Dementieva fired a sweet, deep backhand on her first match point to wrap up victory on a humid Philippe Chatrier Court.

Zvonareva admitted that her final set performance left a lot to be desired.

"I think I lost concentration," she said.

"She was much better from the beginning of the third set and I made quite a few unforced errors and I was always behind."