Holder Francesca Schiavone promised there was more to come after beating Serbian 10th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3 2-6 6-4 to book her place in the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday.
The Italian fifth seed powered through the opening set but Jankovic, a three-times semi-finalist at Roland Garros, took charge in the second as Schiavone failed to keep up the pace in a high-quality match.
Schiavone was forced to run in every direction in a tense decider, eventually prevailing after two hours and 38 minutes when Jankovic failed to retrieve a volley.
The Italian kissed the clay on Suzanne Lenglen court in joy as she set up a meeting with Russian 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who knocked out world number three and compatriot Vera Zvonareva earlier on Sunday.
Schiavone, who unlike most of the top players on the Tour does not only rely on raw power, warned she could play better.
"I'm better (in the sense that) I'm more experienced," Schiavone, whose clever use of top spin causes problems for her opponents, told a news conference.
"I can still improve more, play better than today or some days ago."
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