Current world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and former top-ranked star Venus Williams both needed three sets on Wednesday to post second-round wins at the French Open. Last year's runner-up Elena Dementieva and two-time Roland Garros finalist Kim Clijsters managed to record straight-set wins here on Day 3. The top-seeded Davenport was facing elimination against rising Chinese Shuai Peng, but fought back for a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 decision. Peng was up a set and 5-4 and was two points away from victory in the second, but the Australian Open runner-up Davenport broke to stay alive and eventually forced a tiebreak, which she won easily to force a deciding lopsided third. The three-time Grand Slam champion Davenport has never won the French Open, with her best showing here coming in 1998 when she appeared in the semifinals. Davenport, who hasn't captured a major since the 2000 Aussie Open, will meet French crowd favorite Virginie Razzano in the third round on Friday. In a see-saw affair, the 11th-seeded Williams needed all three sets to top dangerous Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and record her sixth straight match win. The 2002 Roland Garros runner-up is fresh off her clay- court title at the inaugural Istanbul Cup last week. Williams is now 6-0 lifetime against the capable Zuluaga. Seeking her fifth Grand Slam title and first since 2001, Williams was the '02 French Open runner-up to her younger sister Serena, who pulled out of this year's French extravaganza due to a nagging left ankle injury. Venus' third-round opponent will be promising 15-year-old Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva. Meanwhile, the 2004 French Open runner-up Dementieva handled Croat Sanda Mamic 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 to notch her eighth win here in nine matches. The fourth- seeded Dementieva gave way to Anastasia Myskina in last year's historic all-Russian final in Paris and succumbed to Svetlana Kuznetsova in last year's all-Russian U.S. Open title bout. The hard-hitting Dementieva will battle Japanese Akiko Morigami in the round of 32. A 14th-seeded Clijsters drilled Slovakian Ludmila Cervanova 6-2, 6-1. The former world No. 1 Clijsters lost to Jennifer Capriati in the 2001 French final and gave way to fellow Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne in the 2003 title match. Up next for Clijsters will be dangerous Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova. French crowd favorite Mary Pierce advanced on Day 3 by pasting Croat Jelena Kostanic 6-1, 6-0. The two-time Grand Slam champion Pierce, seeded 21st at this 2005 fortnight, captured Roland Garros in 2000. In other top-16 action, No. 8 Swiss Patty Schnyder drubbed German Sandra Kloesel 6-2, 6-3, No. 9 Russian Vera Zvonareva overcame Czech Eva Birnerova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and No. 16 Russian Elena Likhovtseva held off Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). Other seeded second-round winners were No. 18 Italian Silvia Farina Elia, the No. 20 Hantuchova and No. 32 Italian Flavia Pennetta. Mild upsets occurred when the talented Karatantcheva dropped 19th-seeded Japanese Shinobu Asagoe 7-5, 6-2, France's Emilie Loit leveled 27th-seeded American Amy Frazier 6-4, 6-4 and Morigami took out 31st-seeded Croat Karolina Sprem 7-5, 6-3. Additional second-round wins came for the aforementioned Razzano and Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi. The women's second round will conclude here on Thursday with 16 more matches, including ones for Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, French star Amelie Mauresmo and the former Roland Garros titlist Henin-Hardenne. The second-seeded Sharapova will encounter France's own Aravance Rezai, while the third-seeded Mauresmo will meet countrywoman Alize Cornet and the 10th- seeded Henin-Hardenne will face veteran Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual. The red-hot Henin-Hardenne, who titled here in 2003, is currently riding a torrid 18-match winning streak, which includes a trio of clay-court titles. She's a perfect 18-0 on the dirt this season. Thursday's schedule will also feature bouts for a sixth-seeded Kuznetsova and 17th-seeded rising French star Tatiana Golovin.