American Melanie Oudin, who came out of nowhere to reach the quarterfinals of the 2009 US Open, found it hard to carry the burden of high expectations and fell to the recently-married Alona Bondarenko in the second round this year. The 18-year-old Oudin made 38 unforced errors during her 6-2 7-5 loss to seed No.29 Bondarenko.

Second seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters had an easy task against Sally Peers, a 19-year-old qualifier ranked 201. Clijsters advanced to the third round with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Grand Slam debutant Peers, who recorded a 6-0 6-1 win over Aleksandra Wozniak in the first round.

Third-seeded Venus Williams struggled early in her match against 193rd-ranked qualifier Rebecca Marino, but beat her 7-6(3) 6-3.

French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur, seeded fifth, reached the third round of the US Open for the first time, even though it’s her seventh appearance at the tournament. Stosur defeated Anastasia Rodionova 6-1 6-4.

Sixth seed Francesca Schiavone, 2010 French Open champion, quickly won her match against fellow Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-2 6-1. Schiavone has now lost a total of just four games to advance to the third round of the US Open. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Rich from Down the Line has been busy visiting the pre-US Open events in New York, and the latest one he attended was the Taste of Tennis sponsored by BNP Paribas, where tennis stars joined a number of the world's top chefs for great food, a few cooking lessons and lots of partying all to benefit the New York Junior Tennis League.

Women’s tennis players spotted at the event were Victoria Azarenka, Christina McHale, Sorana Cirstea, Sabine Lisicki, Vera Zvonareva and Kim Clijsters. Rich interviewed most of them about tennis and food and we’re expecting him to share the video soon.

Update: As promised, here are Rich's interviews. Really professional, he did a great job.

The New York Times Magazine used various forms of media to show how power has changed women’s tennis. The feature including an article by Michael Kimmelman, extraordinary photos and awesome short slow motion videos by Dewey Nicks has attracted a lot of positive attention in the tennis world, so make sure to check it out.

The article mentions a number of women’s tennis players and their stories, the expansion of the WTA to the Chinese market, the increase in prize money and equal pay at Grand Slams, the difficulties tour pros (or "independent contractors" as Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, likes to call them) can face in earning a living, the influence of Serena and Venus Williams, etc.

The slideshow and videos include Serena Willams, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva, Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonareva. I love how Dementieva's grace accompanies the delicate music of the video. Also, it's a nice surprise to see Sam looking like a ballet dancer. (via Down the Line)

Kim Clijsters entered the Rogers Cup quarterfinal against Vera Zvonareva on a seven-match winning streak which included the Cincinnati title, and even though the Belgian finished the match, her performance was obviously hampered by a hip injury and she lost 2-6 6-3 6-2.

The fifth-seeded Clijsters was leading 6-2 3-2 when Zvonareva, the No.8 seed, won nine straight games to take the second set and establish a 5-0 lead in the third. Clijsters then produced a mini-comeback, winning two games in a row, but Zvonareva finished her off in the following game. Clijsters appeared to hurt her hip in the second set, but didn’t want to retire from the match. She received medical treatment and had her left thigh heavily taped. Her US Open title defense is in question now, the tournament starts August 30.

Earlier in the day, seed No.11 Svetlana Kuznetsova earned her semifinal place at the Rogers Cup with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Zheng Jie, who took out defending champion Elena Dementieva in the previous round.

The 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kunzetsova has had a solid introduction to this year’s US Open, winning the title in San Diego and now reaching her first Rogers Cup semifinal in seven visits. The Russian lost in the first round of Cincinnati, but it was in three sets to Maria Sharapova, the eventual finalist and almost the winner.

"I was a little bit lost for a while, but now I know what I have to do. Winning matches makes you a totally different player and now I know how to do it again," Kuznetsova said after defeating Zheng. (photo courtesy of Fiji Water)

Dinara Safina has extended her winning streak in Montreal to seven matches by upsetting seed No.18 Nadia Petrova 7-5 4-6 6-4 in the second round. The Russian’s winning streak in the city started in 2008, when she won the title, and she has now added the victory over Petrova to her first round defeat of Andrea Petkovic.

The Safina vs. Petrova match was a marathon which proved to Safina that she can still play high intensity matches. In the decider the former world No.1 won five straight games from 1-4 and thus recorded her first back-to-back victory since the Australian Open in January. In addition, this is Safina’s first three-set victory since Stuttgart in April.

Kim Clijsters followed up her memorable comeback win over Maria Sharapova in the final of Cincinnati this past weekend with another come-from-behind victory, over Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round of the Rogers Cup. The fifth-seeded Clijsters, who had a bye in the first round, lost the opening set, fell 4-1 down in the second set and Mattek-Sands even had points for 6-4 5-1. But Clijsters’ then won five straight games to level the match and in the deciding set she was already on a roll. Clijsters defeated Mattek-Sands in a highly entertaining match in which the American showed the diverse skill she has to offer. Final score: 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Here’s how Clijsters commented on her opponent after the match:

"Bethanie came up with some amazing shots. She's a player who can rise to the occasion. If she plays the level she played tonight in those first two sets, I don't see why she shouldn't be in the Top 10 or Top 15." (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photos courtesy of Fiji Water)