Williams sisters one step closer to quarterfinal clash; Safina survives Bacsinszky battle

Dinara Safina and the Williams sisters made their way into the fourth round on Day 6, and the sisters are one round away from a quarterfinal clash.

Venus won her third round match easily to Alona Bondarenko in just four minutes short of an hour, 62 61.

"The Wimbledon win helped me change my mentality, to realize not everything had to be perfect all the time," said Williams, whose current 10-match Grand Slam winning streak includes seven wins at the All-England Club. "If I don't have a perfect practice I don't get really upset about the whole tournament. Now if I don't have a perfect practice, I know I can play. That helps me to relax, so I think the way I'm playing right now has to do with playing well at Wimbledon."

Next up for Venus is Agnieszka Radwanska, who won her match to Dominika Cibulkova 60 63.

Serena, the younger sister, won her match with the same score as Venus, to No. 30 seed Ai Sugiyama, 62 61.

"I have played her before and I've played her a lot in doubles, so I pretty much know her game," said Williams on Sugiyama, against whom she is now 4-0 lifetime. "Those players are good to play because you know what to expect and what not to expect. Now I'm just focusing on my next match."

Next up for Serena is Severine Bremond, who beat Tathiana Garbin, 75 36 64.

Other players winning third round matches on Saturday afternoon were No.16 seed Flavia Pennetta, who beat No.19 seed Nadia Petrova, 46 64 63; No.32 seed Amélie Mauresmo, who beat qualifier Julie Coin, the conqueror of top seed Ana Ivanovic, 64 64; and qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who upset No.17 seed Alizé Cornet, 64 75. Pennetta will play Mauresmo in the next round; Groenefeld will play No.6 seed Dinara Safina, who rallied past Timea Bacsinszky in the feature night match on Arthur Ashe, 36 75 62. Bacsinszky was up 63 54 before Safina won nine of the last 12 games of the match.

Today's Results

Friday, August 29, 2008

Singles - 3rd Round
Jelena Jankovic (2), Serbia, def. Zheng Jie, China, 7-5, 7-5
Li Na, China, def. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Elena Dementieva (5), Russia, def. Anne Keothavong, Britain, 6-3, 6-4
Katarina Srebotnik (28), Slovenia, def. Svetlana Kuznetsova (3), Russia, 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-3
Caroline Wozniacki (21), Denmark, def. Victoria Azarenka (14), Belarus, 6-4, 6-4

Jankovic manages to get to second week; Davenport, Kuznetsova ousted

On Day 5 at the US Open, many seeds were pushed to the limits, especially Jelena Jankovic, who managed to get through to the second week of the last Grand Slam of the year.

Jankovic, seeded second and the highest seed left, battled against Jie Zheng in a 2 hour and 9 minute match, and eventually was the one who advanced to the next round, 75 75.

"That last game was especially tough; so many advantages from her side and so many match points for me," said Jankovic about the final game of the match, which went to deuce 11 times. "I really wanted to win that game, because I didn't want to go to a tie-break. I didn't want to give my opponent a chance to go to a third set because anything can happen. We were both tired. I'm happy to have won in two sets. Of course, winning is the important thing."

Svetlana Kuznetsova wasn't so lucky as Jankovic, falling to Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets, 64 67(1) 63.

"I could have played better but I was really fighting, and I wanted so much to win that match," Kuznetsova said. "She served very well and came into the net so many times. She was more aggressive than I was. I played on the baseline too much. She would come into the net and I wasn't able to keep her back.

"It happens, but I just have to go back to the court and work harder and harder and just look forward to play my next tournament. I have a difficult schedule coming up. Ups and downs happen with everyone. To be the toughest, you have to keep fighting to get up when you have your downs."

No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva won her match to British Anne Keothavong, 63 64. Anne was the first Brit to get to the third round since 1991.

"I think she's probably the best British player I've ever played," Dementieva said. "She has very good potential, she's very aggressive, and she has a good serve. Her whole game is pretty good. It's just a matter of experience. I'm sure she'll keep getting more experience. She's still pretty young."

The night match featured former US Open champion Lindsay Davenport and No. 12 seed Marion Bartoli. The American former No.1 was in bad shape on Friday, which eventually made her lose the match to the Frenchwoman, 61 76(3).

"I had match point at 5-3 and Lindsay aced me on the line; there's nothing I could do about it, I was just trying to play each point," Bartoli said. "If Lindsay wasn't going to give me the match, I had to take it from her. If it takes three sets, it takes three sets. I was ready for three, anyway. I'm very happy to win today."

"I never felt comfortable out there; I was trying so hard to get back in the second set, was able to do that, and then, gosh, I played one of the worst games of my career at 5-all," Davenport said. "It's the way it goes. I gave myself more of a chance and clawed my way through not playing great, and made it competitive. But it's just a shame. I had all the momentum, saved match point, came back and broke her and then I just gave it right back to her."

Today's Results

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Women's singles, 2nd Round

Julie Coin, France, def. Ana Ivanovic, 1, Serbia, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Serena Williams, 4, US, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-1, 6-1
Dinara Safina, 6, Russia, def. Roberta Vinci, Italy, 6-4, 6-3
Venus Williams, 7, US, def. Rossana Del Los Rios, Paraguay, 6-0, 6-3
Agnieszka Radwanska, 9, Poland, def. Mariana Duque Marino, Columbia, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
Tathiana Garbin, Italy, def. Agnes Szavay, 13, Hungary, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
Flavia Pennetta, 16, Italy, def. Peng Shuai, China, 6-2, 6-7 (8- 10), 6-1
Severine Bremond, France, def. Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3
Timea Bacsinszky, Switzerland, def. Chan Yung-Jan, Taiwan, 6-3, 6- 2
Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine, def. Sabine Lisicki, Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Nadia Petrova, Russia, def. Hsieh Su-Wei, Taiwan, 6-4, 6-2
Dominika Cibulkova, Slovakia, def. Ioana Olaru, Romania, 6-2, 6-2
Ai Sugiyama, Japan, def. Olga Govortsova, Belarus, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1
Alize Cornet, France, def. Bethanie Mattek, US, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
Amelie Mauresmo, France, def. Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Germany, def. Jessica Moore, Australia, 6-1, 6-3