Lindsay Davenport suffered a jolt to her preparations for the French Open when she lost in Saturday's final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg to unheralded Claudine Schaul.

For Schaul, her 2-6 6-0 6-3 victory represented a new career high, giving her a first WTA Tour title and the scalp of the world number four.

By contrast, Davenport began well but then lost her momentum as she failed to capture the Strasbourg title for a third time.

A 20-year-old from the capital of Luxembourg, Schaul was once ranked ninth in the junior world rankings, and she first entered the top 100 in the senior ranks during 2003.

As well as beating top-seeded Davenport in grand style, she defeated three more seeds en route to this remarkable achievement, with Emilie Loit, Ai Sugiyama and Tina Pisnik all falling by the wayside.

The task for Schaul at the French Open looks particularly daunting however.

To make any impression at Roland Garros, where she is entered in the women's singles for the first time, she will have to get through a challenging opening match against 30th seed Mary Pierce, a home favourite.

American Davenport, hoping this setback proves to be just a blip, begins her bid for glory on the clay courts of the Paris suburbs with a match against another Frenchwoman, Virginie Pichet.

Davenport has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in a glittering career, but she has never been beyond the last four at the French, where this year she is the fifth seed.