World No.70 Melanie Oudin can now be called the slayer of the Russians, as the 17-year-old American hope defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, fourth seed Elena Dementieva in the second, seed No.29 Maria Sharapova in the third, and now Nadia Petrova in the fourth.

Oudin won just one game in the opening set, but the second was quite a different story. When the 13th-seeded Petrova was serving for a 5-3 lead, Oudin broke back to level at 4-4, and step by step forced a tiebreak which she decisively won 7-2. Oudin then rolled through the deciding set, taking advantage of Petrova’s 22 unforced errors. Final score: 1-6 7-6(2) 6-3.

As the excitement of the past week didn’t catch up with determined Oudin, she’ll be playing her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. Oudin’s opponent in the final eight will be either yet another Russian, sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, or ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

In addition, Oudin’s ranking will rise to at least No.45 when the US Open is over. (photo via Life.com)

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour asked players whether they go out on Friday and Saturday nights or stay at home.

Alize Cornet is one extreme, watching TV with her parents, while Julie Coin is on the other side, barely remembering one night out in New York. Somewhere in-between are Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Nadia Petrova, Ana Ivanovic, and others.

Ana Ivanovic’s career is still in free fall. The latest disappointment is that her Wimbledon preparations have been cut short as she lost to Nadia Petrova in the first round of the AEGON International in Eastourne.

We can’t call it an upset though, as Petrova is seeded seventh, while Ivanovic, who had fallen out of the Top 10 for the first time in about two years after Roland Garros, wasn't even seeded at the grass-court tournament. At least she put up a fight, and lost in three sets 6-1 4-6 6-4.

Ivanovic is not out of Eastbourne completely, although she will probably be very soon. The Serb is competing in doubles, partnered with Germany's Sabine Lisicki. They will play their first-round match against none other than top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

Lisicki was also defeated in singles today, losing 6-2 6-1 to Australian Samantha Stosur.

Top seed Elena Dementieva cruised past fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2 6-2. Dementieva will next play Virginie Razzano, who comfortably beat fellow Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 7-6(3) 6-2. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

The most interesting match-up of the day lived up to the expectations with Maria Sharapova defeating No.11 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 8-6 in the second round of the 2009 French Open. World No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina eased into the third round with a 6-1 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, ranked 151st.

I had given Petrova a slight edge over Sharapova, having in mind Sharapova’s lack of match play (she returned to tennis only last week, after a nine-month long layoff). But as I said, just a slight edge, because of Sharapova’s fighting spirit which will always remain part of her.

The world No.102 Sharapova took the opening set 6-2, before Nadia Petrova, two-time semifinalist at Roland Garros, won the second 6-1. The third set lasted 71 minutes and I believe it’s a testimony that Sharapova is definitely back: she’s able to come from behind, play long matches, and is in full possession of her championship spirit.

Next for the three-time Grand Slam winner is Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Safina, by far the most dominant player of the claycourt season, has lost only two games in her first two matches at this year’s Roland Garros, and spent less than two hours on court.

Safina, who is now on a 17-match winning streak, will face another Russian in the third round, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who beat France's Julie Coin 6-2 7-6(2). (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova exited the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open in the second round already, and compatriots Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova followed her shortly after on Wednesday, in the third round though.

Eighth seed Nadia Petrova lost to unseeded Patty Schnyder at the Premier-level claycourt event. Petrova fought hard, forced and won the second-set tiebreak and even rallied from 4-1 down in the third set, but the Swiss eventually won 6-4 6-7(2) 7-6(5).

Third seed Elena Dementieva took the first set 6-1, but Amelie Mauresmo rallied back to beat the world No.5 1-6 6-4 6-2. The Frenchwoman, who had upset China’s seed No.15 Zheng Jie en route to the third-round encounter with Dementieva, now has a 10-6 career record against the Russian.

Not all Russian players lost on Wednesday: world No.1 Dinara Safina defeated Li Na 6-3 7-6(2), while qualifier Vera Dushevina beat Francesca Schiavone 6-3 4-6 6-2. (photo by our reader Jacob)

Nadia Petrova who was hospitalized with viral meningitis which forced her to withdraw from the ASB Classic in New Zealand is not in hospital any more, as her mother told Russian publication Sport-Express.

Petrova was diagnosed with viral meningitis when she fell ill while training in Buenos Aires. (Tennis.com via On the Baseline, photo: Nadia Petrova's website)

World No.11 Nadia Petrova has been hospitalized with viral meningitis, and won’t play the ASB Classic in New Zealand where she was supposed to start the 2009 tennis season.

"It’s a shame Nadia will not be coming, I know she was looking forward to playing the ASB Classic, but in this situation she is obviously in need of medical care and our thoughts go out to her," says ASB Classic tournament director Brenda Perry.

Besides the ASB Classic, Petrova might miss some other scheduled tournaments in Australia too.

In 2007, Petrova won two titles: Cincinnati and Quebec City. (source: On the Baseline, photo: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Russian top seed Nadia Petrova fought back from a set and a break down to get past Bethanie Mattek 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada.

American world No.43 Mattek, probably most famous for her fashion sense, failed to win her first WTA title in her premier appearance in a WTA final. World No.11 Petrova, on the other hand, clinched her ninth career title and her second this season after winning in Cincinnati in August.

The Bell Challenge was the last tournament on the regular WTA schedule. The tennis season ends next week with the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha where the top eight players of the year will compete for a share of the prize money of $4,550,000.

Second seed Jelena Jankovic defeated Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-3 in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final to win her second title in two weeks. The victory earned the world No.2 her eighth career title and a shiny red Porsche Carrera 911.

The 23-year-old Serb, who will on Monday return to No.1 in the rankings, also won the China Open last week and now has three titles this season.

Jankovic broke Petrova’s serve in the opening game to take the first set. In the second she led 3-1 with three break points for 4-1, but the 2006 Stuttgart champion Petrova tied at 3-3. Afterward, however, Jankovic regrouped and took the next three games for the title.

Jankovic improved her career record against the world No.18 Petrova to 6-2, with now three of those victories coming at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Before beating Nadia Petrova, Jankovic had defeated Alona Bondarenko, seed No.7 Vera Zvonareva, and sixth-seeded Venus Williams at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. (photo via Yahoo)

Second seed Jelena Jankovic edged sixth-seeded Venus Williams 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2, improved to 5-3 lifetime against the American, and set up a Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final against Nadia Petrova.

Russia’s Petrova advanced to the final in Stuttgart with a 6-4 6-4 win over Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, the 19-year-old player who upset fourth seed Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals.

Jankovic, who was already assured of becoming the new women's world No.1 when the rankings are released on Monday, reached her first final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix  (last year she was beaten in the semis by Justine Henin) and will face the 2006 Stuttgart champion Nadia Petrova.

Jankovic and Petrova meet for the eighth time in their careers and the Serb leads their series 5-2. Interestingly, two of Jankovic’s victories over Petrova came at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, in 2004 (first round) and 2007 (quarterfinals). (photos: Getty Images)