Grosjean survives Spadea in marathon.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

PARIS _ A bubbly broadcaster caught Vince Spadea on his way out of Court Suzanne Lenglen on Saturday after his third-round French Open loss. With the capacity crowd still spewing adoration on native son and 10th seed Sebastien Grosjean, the question posed to Spadea was whether the atmosphere made him want to return.

``I suppose,'' a disoriented-looking Spadea said. ``I can't even hear what you're saying.''

His game reduced to a whisper much of the last two years, Spadea no longer need shout to announce his presence. Grosjean got all he wanted from his fellow Boca Raton, Fla., resident in winning, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.

Having played a pair of five-set matches to reach the third round, Spadea was running on vapors in the fourth set. His 22nd double fault gave Grosjean his third break to go up 5-4. Though Spadea answered two of those with breaks of his own, Grosjean secured his fourth-round spot with an easy service game.

Bolstered by chants of ``SE-BAS-TIEN, SE-BAS-TIEN,'' Grosjean used every kilo of support the Parisian crowd could muster. For Spadea, winning two rounds at his first major since the 2000 U.S. Open and pushing a top player in difficult circumstances was another significant step in his tread back up the rankings.

``I'm starting to get into the main draw of tournaments, so I don't have to come out from the woods and all of a sudden you see me,'' said Spadea, whose low ranking required him to qualify for most of his recent tour-level events. ``I'll be in the center draw, then hopefully I can make some headway like I've been doing in the lower ranks. This gives me confidence, this week.''

Confidence isn't among the few, if any, issues fourth seed Andre Agassi needs to address. The 1999 champion and oldest player still in the draw, the 32-year-old Agassi whipped No. 25 Tommy Robredo 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.