Dominika Cibulkova reached her second US Open quarterfinal in two years by upsetting eleventh seed and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round. Later, top seed Caroline Wozniacki recorded one of the most significant victories of her career by defeating Maria Sharapova for the first time and by building on the momentum gained in the previous three rounds of the US Open in which the Dane lost a total of just three games. The two winners will face each other in the quarterfinals.

Despite a fragile thigh and being down in both sets, the world No.45 Cibulkova defeated Kuznetsova in straight sets, 7-5 7-6(4). The Slovakian could have finished the match earlier, as she served for the second set at 5-3, but Kuznetsova saved two match points and the set went to a tiebreak. The Slovakian didn’t let her opportunity slip away and won that tiebreak to deny Kuznetsova her 101th Grand Slam victory. During the match Kuznetsova made 42 unforced errors and double-faulted 10 times.

Here’s what Cibulkova said afterwards:

I was really pumped for this. I knew I could make it and that I could beat everybody in this tournament. I still feel like that.

The fourth round match between last year’s US Open runner-up Wozniacki and 2006 US Open champion Sharapova was highly anticipated, partly because it was a big test for Wozniacki’s great form but also a big test for more established Sharapova, and the two didn’t disappoint, providing tennis fans with big-hitting contest.

Both Wozniacki and Sharapova had very low break point conversion percentages – Wozniacki just 25% (converting 3 of 12 break points), and Sharapova just 11% (making use of only 1 out of 9 break points). Sharapova also had much more double faults and unforced errors than Wozniacki – nine double faults to Wozniacki’s three, and 36 unforced errors to Wozniacki’s 10. Final match result: 6-3 6-4.

Wozniacki has won the last four meetings against her next opponent Cibulkova, dating back to 2008, and all of them were on hard courts. The Dane is now more than ever a serious contender for a Grand Slam title, and if the repeat of the last year’s final with Kim Clijsters materializes, Wozniacki will be much more likely to go all the way. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Women's tennis fashion is attracting a lot of attention, especially at Grand Slams when clothing sponsors and players try to showcase the best they have. So let's see what they've come up for the 2010 US Open.

I'll start with adidas, my overall favorite, as they always make outfits that have a glamorous touch but can also be easily worn at everyday practice.

Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic are sporting pink adidas Women's Fall adilibria Dress.

Russians Dinara Safina and Maria Kirilenko are cled in adidas Barricade Top and Skort.

Caroline Wozniacki is looking great in Stella McCartney Tennis Performance Dress, contrasting nicely with Tennis Performance Bra Top. Elena Dementieva and Yonex once again failed to impress with design and fellow blogger C Note, who saw the dress live at the US Open, said that it even looks two sizes too big on Dementieva.

As usual for a Grand Slam, Maria Sharapova has two versions of a Nike dress – one for day matches and a darker piece for night. When we reviewed the dresses from the photos prior to the Open they looked somewhat questionable, but when seen on Sharapova they are a perfect match. You can see the dresses closer here and here.

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Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic had a tough opening match at the US Open against world No.96 Simona Halep of Romania. As Jankovic said, she wasn’t playing her best tennis, but was able to get through.

The 2008 US Open finalist Jankovic lost the first set and found the 18-year-old Halep serving for the match at 5-4 in the decider. Halep was actually two points away from victory, but Jankovic then broke her serve and won all the remaining games to advance to the second round. Final score: 4-6 6-4 7-5.

Halep made her Grand Slam debut at this year’s French Open and lost in the first round as well.

Seed No.11 Svetlana Kuznetsova was pushed to three sets, 6-2 4-6 6-1, in her first round match against Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm, whose last match in the US Open’s main draw prior to her this year’s appearance was a loss in the first round in 1996.

Kateryna Bondarenko sent home eighth-seeded Li Na with a 2-6 6-4 6-2 victory. Li, who reached at least the fourth round in her last three appearances at the US Open, blamed the heat for the defeat and her inability to cope with it. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

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)

Maria Sharapova defeated San Diego champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 1-6 6-2 in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.

Players had to deal with extreme heat and humidity, which even forced Nadia Petrova to retire from the tournament, while Elena Vesnina claimed to have experienced one of the hottest days of her life. However, it was not the weather conditions that largely affected Kuznetsova’s performance, but rather the fact that she had a sore leg and was coming off just winning the Mercury Insurance Open over the weekend and didn’t have time to rest.

"It's definitely tough to have a night flight then come and play the day after a final, but it's just bad luck, I cannot change it," said the world No.14 Kuznetsova. "I just need to get my ranking higher and then I can get a bye. But I also have to give a lot of credit to Maria. She played really well in the third."

Sharapova commited much more unforced errors, 39 to Kuznetsova's 17, but also hit more winners, 31 to Kuznetsova's 11.

Fashion note: Masha is wearing a Nike Women's Maria Sharapova Lawn Top and Skort. So that my perception of colors doesn’t interfere, Tennis Warehouse states the outfit is filament green with armory (and there is also a white with anthracite version). (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, ESPN; photo: © Neal Trousdale)