Melanie Oudin won’t have the pleasure of meeting yet another Russian at this US Open, as Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will be her next opponent, who eliminated the last Russian in the draw, sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal by defeating Kuznetsova 2-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3). Wozniacki converted her third match point, having wasted one at 5-4 and one at 6-5 in the third set.

"I hit too many unforced errors and I couldn't control my emotions. And I wanted it so much, so it was pretty hard to control," world No.6 Kuznetsova said. "All credit to her. But you can't win against anybody with those errors. No chance."

The world No.8 Wozniacki was the highest-ranked player never to have been among the final eight at a Grand Slam. World No.18 Virginie Razzano is that player now. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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Top seed Dinara Safina was almost taken out in the first round of the US Open, while her fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded sixth, advanced to the second round much more easily.

The world No.1 Safina double faulted to lose the first set tiebreak, having had four set points, to 167th-ranked Olivia Rogowska of Australia. Safina then hit back to win the second set, but again had to dig deep in the third set to eventually clinch a 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 victory.

Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, was broken early in her first-round match against Julia Goerges, but recovered to score a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Safina’s struggle in the first round has only confirmed how vulnerable even the top players are, showing the absolute openness of the women’s draw. (photo via Zygonyx)

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Eighth seed Amelie Mauresmo upset top seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pet Tennis presented by Schick 7-6(9) 2-6 6-3.

The former world No.1 Mauresmo saved five set points in the opening set, and won the tiebeak 11-9. The second set she lost easily, while in the third she reclaimed the momentum to advance to the semifinals.

Mauresmo’s next opponent will be Elena Vesnina, who defeated Gisela Dulko in the first round, seed No.9 Samantha Stosur in the second, and Anna Chakvetadze in the quarterfinals. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

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Wildcard Kim Clijsters is still doing impressively well in her comeback after a two-year-long break and a child birth, scoring her third Top 20 victory in three matches she played since returning to competitive tennis at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open. Third seed Venus Williams fell to No.14 seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.

Clijsters started her third-round match with a 4-1 lead, and even though sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova leveled at 4-4, the Belgian won the set 6-4. We can safely say that Kuznetsova was saved by the challenge system in the second set. Clijsters was leading 3-0, and then 4-3, and just when we thought she broke Kuznetsova for 5-3, the Hawk-eye system said Kuznetsova's ball was in and in the end she leveled at 4-4 to eventually win the set. Still, Clijsters triumphed in the decider to defeat the sixth-ranked Russian, after victories over No.13 Marion Bartoli and No.20 Patty Schnyder.

No.14 seed Pennetta defeated third seed Venus Williams 7-6(2) 6-4 and extended her winning streak to 14 matches. The Italian won back-to-back titles in Palermo and Los Angeles, and has now reached the quarterfinals of Cincinnati.

Clijsters might face world No.1 Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals, while Pennetta, who is now 4-3 against Williams, will next play Daniela Hantuchova, the winner over seventh seed Vera Zvonareva in the third round.

Additional info: The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour made this nice video clip dedicated to Kim Clijsters’ comeback.

(photo via Life.com)

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The 3rd August issue of Russian magazine called PROsport is featuring beautiful pictures of Svetlana Kuznetsova. In my opinion, Kuznetsova has never looked better.

The same magazine included equally wonderful photos of Vera Zvonareva last year. (via: Tennis Info Blog)

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