Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva was shown the exit at the French Open with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 defeat by Australian Samantha Stosur in the third round in Paris on Saturday.

The Olympic champion, who benefited from Jelena Dokic's retirement in the previous round while she was one set down, bowed out after two hours 12 minutes.

Stosur, seeded 30th, relied on a devastating forehand to break decisively in the eighth game of the first set.

Dementieva saved a set point as Stosur netted a routine volley but she was outwitted when the Australian came to the net after a weak service return.

Dementieva was the first to hold serve for 3-2 in the second set and she hung on to level the contest on her second set point when Stosur overcooked a forehand.

The Australian raced to a 4-0 lead in the decider and prevailed on her second match point with another forehand winner, setting up a fourth round meeting with either Italian Tathiana Garbin or France's Virginie Razzano.