Friday 4th September 2009

Women's Day Four Roundup

Maria Sharapova ended the US Open run of Christina McHale when she overpowered the American 6-2 6-1 at Flushing Meadows.

With her victory, the 2006 champion booked a third-round meeting with another American teenager, Melanie Oudin, who earlier upset fourth seed Elena Dementieva.

Sharapova, seeded 29th, produced a display of power tennis although her 17-year-old opponent refused to be overawed at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The former world number one broke McHale in her first game but not to be outdone, the teenager broke back before holding for a 2-1 lead.

However, Sharapova held and then McHale double-faulted to go 3-2 up and, after holding, the Russian then took a double-break after crafting an easy forehand winner by playing her opponent around the court.

The three-time grand slam champion clinched the opening set with a crosscourt forehand winner.

McHale took a 1-0 lead in the second and then held a break point to go 2-0 up which she appeared to have converted when Sharapova was judged to have served her fourth of seven double faults in the game.

However, she challenged the call on her second serve, which was shown to have nicked the back of the service line.

Sharapova went on to hold serve and never looked back to win in just under an hour and a quarter.

US Open Day 4 Gallery

Top seed Dinara Safina came through another shaky match and then saw her path to the final open up with the elimination of leading rivals Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic.

World number one Safina, with a debate raging about her worthiness to hold the highest ranking in the women's game without a grand slam title to her name, reached the third round at Flushing Meadows with a win over Germany's Kristina Barrois.

Safina had been less than impressive in her first-round win over wild card Olivia Rogowska, coming from 0-3 down in the final set to beat the Australian, and against the world number 67 from Germany she had a similarly frustrating experience.

The Russian took two hours and 13 minutes to eke out at 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3 victory, giving up 15 double faults and committing 38 unforced errors to 36 winners.

"Another tough day in the office," Safina said afterwards. "Another day off tomorrow and another match on Saturday.

"Actually today I think I was serving in some stages better than the first round. That's a positive and at least I made some aces.

"There is no problem in the technique, just in my head, so I have to change the chip in here," she added pointing to her head.

Safina said she was looking for a vast improvement and a short day's work in the third round, when she will face Czech player Petra Kvitova, ranked 72 in the world.

Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when Oudin claimed another big-name grand slam scalp.

Oudin, 18 later this month, had caused a shock at Wimbledon earlier this summer when she knocked out Jankovic in the third round and the world number 70 added the 2008 Olympic champion to her list of victims at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 upset victory.

Dementieva was gracious in defeat.

"For sure it is disappointing, I was really hoping to play well here but just didn't feel the way I should.

"Maybe I overplayed a bit in the summer but I think she played really well. She was very positive and going for the shots, going for the winners. Just was a very solid game from her."

While Dementieva was removed from the picture as Safina's seeded opponent for the semi-finals, Jankovic had been the expected threat in the quarter-finals for the top seed.

The fifth seed, though, fell foul of Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, losing a final-set tie-break to the world number 55, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6).

Shvedova will now meet world number 40 Gisela Dulko of Argentina in the fourth round after she knocked out 30th seed Alona Bondarenko, brushing aside the Ukrainian 6-4 6-0.

There are now no other seeds left in Safina's quarter of the draw after Austria's Patty Schnyder, the number 19, was ousted by Italy's Sara Errani, 7-5, 6-2, and 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki was beaten by Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova, the world number 139 who knocked Britain's Elena Baltacha out in the final qualifying round.

There was considerably less drama for sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion and this year's French Open winner. The Russian knocked out Latvia's Anastasija Sevatova 6-4 6-2.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who beat Croatian Petra Maric 6-1, 6-0 to set up a third meeting with Romanian 24th seed Sorana Cirstea, who was taken to three sets by Stephanie Dubois of Canada before winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Nadia Petrova, the 13th seed from Russia, overcame stubborn resistance from Frenchwoman Julie Coin before coming out a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) winner. Petrova will next face Jie Zheng of China, the number 21 seed, who beat Alize Cornet of France 1-6 6-3 6-3.

Friday 4th September 2009

Doors opening for Safina in US Open

Dinara Safina saw off another shaky match and then saw her path to the final open up with the upsets of Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic.

World number one Safina, with a debate raging about her worthiness to hold the highest ranking in the women's game without a grand slam title to her name, reached the third round at Flushing Meadows with a win over Germany's Kristina Barrois.

Safina had been less than impressive in her first-round win over wild card Olivia Rogowska, coming from 0-3 down in the final set to beat the Australian, and against the world number 67 from Germany she had a similarly frustrating experience.

The Russian took two hours and 13 minutes to eke out at 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3 victory, giving up 15 double faults and committing 38 unforced errors to 36 winners.

"Another tough day in the office," Safina said afterwards. "Another day off tomorrow and another match on Saturday.

"Actually today I think I was serving in some stages better than the first round. That's a positive and at least I made some aces.

"Previous round I didn't make any ace and made only double faults. It's better, still not perfect but I know what the problem is.

"There is no problem in the technique, just in my head, so I have to change the chip in here," she added pointing to her head.

Having fought so hard to make a match of it, Barrios ironically gave up the contest with a double fault but Safina said she was looking for a vast improvement and a short day's work in the third round, when she will face Czech player Petra Kvitova, ranked 72 in the world.

US Open Day 4 Gallery

Fourth seed Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when American teenager Melanie Oudin claimed another big-name grand slam scalp.

Oudin, 18 later this month, had caused a shock at Wimbledon earlier this summer when she knocked out Jankovic in the third round and the world number 70 added the 2008 Olympic champion to her list of victims at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 upset victory.

Having allowed Oudin to level the match at 1-1, Olympic champion Dementieva quickly allowed the American to take the initiative in the final set and not even a medical timeout for treatment on an injured left thigh could stop the underdog from having her day.

Serving for the match the American quickly gave herself triple match point. The fourth seed saved the first two in clinical fashion but then Oudin sent down a big serve wide to the Russian's backhand and the netted return sparked loud celebrations as the American booked her ticket to the third round and a possible meeting with No.29 and former champion Maria Sharapova, who was set to play American wild card Christina McHale in a night session match.

Dementieva was gracious in defeat.

"For sure it is disappointing, I was really hoping to play well here but just didn't feel the way I should .

"Maybe overplayed a bit in the summer but I think she played really well. She was very positive and going for the shots, going for the winners. Just was a very solid game from her."

While Dementieva was removed from the picture as Safina's seeded opponent for the semi-finals, Jankovic had been the expected threat in the quarter-finals for the top seed.

The fifth seed, though, fell foul of Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, losing a final-set tie-break to the world number 55, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6).

Shvedova will now meet world number 40 Gisela Dulko of Argentina in the fourth round after she knocked out 30th seed Alona Bondarenko, brushing aside the Ukrainian 6-4, 6-0.

There are now no other seeds left in Safina's quarter of the draw after Austria's Patty Schnyder, the number 19, was ousted by Italy's Sara Errani, 7-5, 6-2, and 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki was beaten by Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova, the world number 139 who knocked Britain's Elena Baltacha out in the final qualifying round.

There was further trouble for Lisicki when she fell during the deciding point and needed extensive treatment on her left ankle as she lay in tears on the court.

There was considerably less drama for sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion and this year's French Open winner. The Russian knocked out Latvia's Anastasija Sevatova 6-4, 6-2.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who beat Croatian Petra Maric 6-1, 6-0 to set up a third meeting with Romanian 24th seed Sorana Cirstea, who was taken to three sets by Stephanie Dubois of Canada before winning 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Nadia Petrova, the 13th seed from Russia, overcame stubborn resistance from Frenchwoman Julie Coin before coming out a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) winner. Petrova will next face Jie Zheng of China, the No.21, who beat Alize Cornet of France 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Friday 4th September 2009

Jankovic follows Dementieva out

Jelena Jankovic was the latest star to tumble out of the US Open when she was beaten by Yaroslava Shvedova in a final set tie-break.

Last year's finalist from Serbia followed fourth seed Elena Dementieva out of the last grand slam of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6) by the world number 55 from Kazakhstan.

Having followed Melanie Oudin's upset of Dementieva on court , Jankovic looked uncomfortable from the start and was broken early in the opening set by the aggressive Shvedova.

The Serbian did not offer much resistance at 5-3 down as she sent down a forehand that went long to allow Shvedova to break again and take the first set.

It was not looking good in the second set either as Jankovic went 4-2 down when Shvedova broke her serve but the Serbian broke back in the next game.

At 5-4 Jankovic served for the set, racing to 40-0 before Shvedova scrambled back into the game to break serve and stay in the set.

The see-saw nature of the set continued when Jankovic broke back again in the 11th game and at 6-5 up she once again had the opportunity to serve to level the match.

The Serb again gave herself set points at 40-15 before letting the 21-year-old back in and Shvedova again broke serve to force a tiebreak.

Jankovic moved to set point at 6-3 but again showed she was capable of throwing it away when she served a double fault. The next point, though, saw the fifth seed finally get it done and she squared the match at 1-1.

Having done that, Jankovic promptly coughed up the initiative when Shvedova broke her serve in the third game of the final set. It took three more games to get back on track but then Shvedova showed she still had victory in mind by breaking back in game nine to take a 5-4 lead.

Serving for the match, Shvedova faltered, giving Jankovic a way back in to the set which she willingly took.

The pace was unrelenting as the rivals thumped balls back and forth from the baseline but Shvedova showed a deft touch in luring Jankovic to the net and then lobbing her to move towards a double break point in the 11th game.

It was pure good fortune that earned her the break, however, as she saw a forehand clip the net cord and roll over for a the winning point, leaving her to serve once more for the match at 6-5.

And once again, Shvedova stumbled, netting a straightforward forehand at 30-30 to hand Jankovic the first of three break points on the way to another break of serve as the match went to a decisive tie-break.

Some loose play from both Shvedova's forehand and backhand handed Jankovic two match points. The Kazakh saved the first on her own serve and Jankovic lost the second on her serve with a looping mis-hit beyond the baseline to leave the score at 6-6.

Shvedoba then turned up the pressure, controlling a long rally off the Jankovic serve, she finished off with a forehand winner to give her match point on her own serve.

She finished it in style, sending Jankovic crashing out with an ace.

Friday 4th September 2009

Dementieva falls to Oudin in New York

Elena Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when Melanie Oudin claimed another grand slam scalp.

Women's fourth seed Elena Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when American teenager Melanie Oudin claimed another grand slam scalp today.

Oudin, 18 later this month, had caused a shock at Wimbledon earlier this summer when she knocked out Jelena Jankovic in the third round and the world number 70 added the 2008 Olympic champion to her list of victims at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 upset victory.

Having allowed Oudin to level the match at 1-1, Olympic champion Dementieva quickly allowed the American to take the initiative in the final set when the Russian's serve was broken in the second game.

Dementieva broke straight back and as the players took a break at the change of ends, Oudin called for a trainer to receive a medical timeout for treatment to her left thigh, which had been bandaged.

Returning to play with the thigh now heavily wrapped, Oudin showed no ill effects as she sent over a cross-court forehand winner to earn double break point and she took the game at the first opportunity when Dementieva sent a forehand long.

There was another twist at 15-0 in the first game, when Oudin suddenly clutched her thigh and winced in apparent pain as she prepared to serve but she continued to huge cheers from the Ashe crowd.

Oudin, though, could not prevent Dementieva earning two break points and though she saved the first of them, a forehand down the line curved out of play and the initiative was lost once more.

The American received more treatment at the next break and when play resumed it was once again the server who got into trouble as Oudin earned double break point.

She netted a baseline forehand with the first opportunity but got the vital breakthrough when she finished a long rally with an overhead winner to go 4-2 up.

With the crowd firmly behind the American and roaring with approval every time she won a point, Oudin held serve to leave Dementieva needing a hold to save the match.

No treatment was necessary in the following changeover as a pumped up Oudin returned to her seat while Dementieva remained outwardly calm. It got her safely through the game but left Oudin serving for the match and the American quickly gave herself triple match point.

The fourth seed saved the first two in clinical fashion but then Oudin sent down a big serve wide to the Russian's backhand and the netted return sparked loud celebrations as the American booked her ticket to the third round.

Friday 4th September 2009

Dementieva falls to Oudin in New York

Elena Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when Melanie Oudin claimed another grand slam scalp.

Women's fourth seed Elena Dementieva became the first big-name casualty of the 2009 US Open when American teenager Melanie Oudin claimed another grand slam scalp today.

Oudin, 18 later this month, had caused a shock at Wimbledon earlier this summer when she knocked out Jelena Jankovic in the third round and the world number 70 added the 2008 Olympic champion to her list of victims at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 upset victory.

Having allowed Oudin to level the match at 1-1, Olympic champion Dementieva quickly allowed the American to take the initiative in the final set when the Russian's serve was broken in the second game.

Dementieva broke straight back and as the players took a break at the change of ends, Oudin called for a trainer to receive a medical timeout for treatment to her left thigh, which had been bandaged.

Returning to play with the thigh now heavily wrapped, Oudin showed no ill effects as she sent over a cross-court forehand winner to earn double break point and she took the game at the first opportunity when Dementieva sent a forehand long.

There was another twist at 15-0 in the first game, when Oudin suddenly clutched her thigh and winced in apparent pain as she prepared to serve but she continued to huge cheers from the Ashe crowd.

Oudin, though, could not prevent Dementieva earning two break points and though she saved the first of them, a forehand down the line curved out of play and the initiative was lost once more.

The American received more treatment at the next break and when play resumed it was once again the server who got into trouble as Oudin earned double break point.

She netted a baseline forehand with the first opportunity but got the vital breakthrough when she finished a long rally with an overhead winner to go 4-2 up.

With the crowd firmly behind the American and roaring with approval every time she won a point, Oudin held serve to leave Dementieva needing a hold to save the match.

No treatment was necessary in the following changeover as a pumped up Oudin returned to her seat while Dementieva remained outwardly calm. It got her safely through the game but left Oudin serving for the match and the American quickly gave herself triple match point.

The fourth seed saved the first two in clinical fashion but then Oudin sent down a big serve wide to the Russian's backhand and the netted return sparked loud celebrations as the American booked her ticket to the third round.

Friday 4th September 2009

Safina struggles into third round

Top seed Dinara Safina came through another shaky match at the US Open to reach the third round with a win over Kristina Barrois.

The world number one had been less than impressive in her first-round win over wild card Olivia Rogowska, coming from 3-0 down in the final set to beat the Australian.

Her second round match against the world number 67 from Germany was similarly frustrating at Louis Armstrong Stadium as the Russian took two hours and 13 minutes to eke out at 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-3 victory.

Safina, who gave up 15 double faults and committed 38 unforced errors to 36 winners, had been out of sorts from the start, opening the match by having her serve broken before breaking straight back.

The first set went with serve from there and Barrois just managed to hold her serve to take in into a tiebreak.

Safina was again in trouble as Barrois took a mini-break to lead 5-4 and her serve let her down at the decisive moment when a double fault, her sixth, gifted the German the set after 57 minutes, the Russian throwing her arms up in frustration.

Safina came out for the second set all steamed up and broke Barrois to love to take control but at 2-1 up the top seed again let her frustration get the better of her, serving another fault and throwing her arm up in disgust before netting a booming forehand as the set got back on serve.

That changed quickly though as Safina stepped up a gear and took the next three games in a row and served for the set at 5-2, pulling level with Barrois at 1-1 when the German mis-hit a crosscourt backhand wide.

The Safina serve was continuing to undermine the Russian and she began the third set as she had the opener, by failing to hold the second game, racking up her 13th double fault of the match in the process.

Luckily for her, Barrois was serving just as poorly and she was broken in the next game.

Safina levelled up the set at 2-2 with her next hold and at 3-2 down produced perhaps her best service game of the match so far, back to back aces and then another big serve angled in to the Barrois backhand helping her to the game.

The victory finally looked assured but Safina was not out of the woods yet. At 4-3 up she gave herself more work to do as she faced a triple break point, once again digging herself out of trouble to get to within a game of advancing to round three.

Then it was Barrios' turn to crumble, the German quickly offering three match points and surrendering meekly at the first one, a double fault handing the win to a far from convincing Safina.

Friday 4th September 2009

Roddick goes through in New York

Fifth seed Andy Roddick cruised into the third round at the US Open with another late-night show of strength.

Roddick, runner-up to Roger Federer in their epic Wimbledon men's final eight weeks ago, put in a powerful performance under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium to suggest he is ready to vie with the world number one for the second grand slam in a row.

The American, champion here in 2003 before the Swiss began his five-year unbeaten run, moved a step closer to a potential semi-final date with Federer by blasting Frenchman Marc Gicquel away 6-1 6-4 6-4 and he will next face unseeded compatriot John Isner.

Roddick had been forced to wait until gone 11pm local time on Monday night before taking to the court to defeat Germany's Bjorn Phau in straight sets and it was nearly 1030pm in New York when he got to start taking apart 32-year-old Gicquel, the world number 81.

The omens had not been good for Gicquel, who in their three previous meetings had failed to even break Roddick's serve, most recently on clay at the French Open when the world number five wrapped things up in 104 minutes.

Roddick took a little time to warm to his task at Flushing Meadows before breaking Gicquel for the first time in the fourth game to go 3-1 up and then delighted the crowd on his next service game when he hammered down a 138 miles per hour ace.

Roddick continued to gather momentum by breaking Gicquel once more and he wrapped up the set on his serve in the next game after just 25 minutes on court as the crowd sensed a rout was in the making.

The second set was Roddick's in the third game when he broke Gicquel for the first time.

Gicquel held his next two service games, even wowing the fans with the splits mid-point, but in truth that was his most impressive feat of the evening.

Roddick served for the set at 5-4 but found himself uncharacteristically trailing at 15-30 having sent a backhand beyond the baseline. He was not behind for long, though, and the American got to set point at 40-30, then saw Gicquel net a backhand to send Roddick into a two-set lead.

Roddick was quickly up in the third set too, taking a 2-1 lead but this time Gicquel was not be rolled over quite as easily and the Frenchman raised his serve to hold the next three games.

He was still nowhere close to breaking Roddick's serve however and the writing was on the wall at 5-4 as the game edged past midnight.

Roddick sealed victory but not before Gicquel had saved two match points to get to deuce and he actually earned his first break point of the night with a great forehand return down the line.

That prompted Roddick's fifth ace of the night and the American duly closed out the game as Gicquel sent a cross-court forehand into the tram lines.

Friday 4th September 2009

Lloyd likes Murray's chances

Davis Cup captain John Lloyd is hoping Andy Murray will be US Open champion when Great Britain take on Poland later this month.

Lloyd named world number two Murray in his squad yesterday to face the Poles at the Liverpool Echo Arena on September 18-20 in a must-win Euro/Africa Group One relegation play-off.

The 22-year-old Scot, meanwhile, will continue his bid to land a first grand slam title at Flushing Meadows tomorrow when he faces Chile's Paul Capdeville in a second-round match.

Lloyd, a US Open quarter-finalist in 1984, was impressed by Murray's opening-round performance in getting past Latvia's Ernests Gulbis in straight sets under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night and believes the way the draw has opened up for the second seed can aid his title bid.

As Murray was beating Gulbis, both 27th seed Ivo Karlovic and 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka were eliminated by lower-ranked players, removing potentially awkward obstacles from the Briton's path to a second successive US Open final.

"I think he played very well," Lloyd said of the performance against Gulbis.

"He can play better than that, obviously, but he played within himself and played well.

"You don't want to come out the first day and hit every ball for the lines anyway because it's a marathon winning a grand slam, it's not a sprint and he played extremely well.

"He looked very comfortable, and never looked in any danger of losing. He could have lost a set and I thought he might have to be honest, though not the match, and there was a nice little bonus of his big rivals whom he might have played in the next two or three rounds having lost as well, Karlovic and Wawrinka.

"That's a nice bonus and so all the signs look good."

Lloyd, though, knows that in sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro and reigning Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal, the third seed, there are even bigger roadblocks lying in wait for Murray in the quarters and semi-finals.

"He could do with Del Potro going out as well, and Nadal," Lloyd said.

"That would be lovely but I don't think that's going to happen."

Having been denied Murray's services last March due to a virus, Lloyd saw his British team go down 4-1 to Ukraine and the Davis Cup captain is confident that having Murray in his squad will boost the confidence of his team-mates, particularly singles rubber candidates James Ward, the British number two, British number four Josh Goodall and number five Dan Evans.

"Being around someone like Andy when he comes into town, they're not used to being around number two players in the world but Andy is an out-and-out winner, in terms of the mental side of it, physically, the way he gets ready for matches, everything is towards positivity.

"For our three guys, if they don't learn a lot in that week I'll be shocked and I'm hoping that they'll not only learn from him for the future but right during that week.

"It's going to be a valuable experience and I hope that that extra five, 10% they learn from him is enough to win the singles matches. They're going to be around the second-best player in the world, after all, and he might well be the US Open champion by the time we play.

"So I'm hoping they'll have a huge learning experience and if they don't learn from it then maybe they're playing in the wrong sport."

Davis Cup will be firmly at the back of Murray's mind as he prepares to take on Capdeville and the Scot said he was happy with his form after getting past the potentially tricky Gulbis in his first match of the final grand slam of the year.

"He has the sort of game where he can put you under a lot of pressure," Murray said.

"I mean, I wouldn't have been too worried had I lost the first set because sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get into the match and used to the courts.

"But it's always nice when you can get off to a good start, regardless of who it's against."

Thursday 3rd September 2009

Kim and Venus set for showdown

Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams stayed on course for a last-16 showdown after both came through their US Open second-round ties.

Third seed Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champion, overcame a troublesome left knee to book her place in the third round with a battling straight-sets win over fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Belgium's Clijsters, playing for the first time in New York since winning the women's singles title in 2005, having retired to start a family the following year, continued to show she is a dangerous wild card entry as she knocked out 14th seed Marion Bartoli of France.

Williams had needed three sets to get past first-round opponent Vera Dushevina of Russia on Monday night as she struggled for form and was restricted by her knee, which has caused her problems recently due to tendinitis.

Williams had a more comfortable afternoon on Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, playing with a well-strapped left knee as she saw off the world number 124, 6-4 6-2 in 91 minutes.

Mattek-Sands was never entirely out of the contest, particularly in the opening set as she forced three break points against the powerful Williams serve but the third seed's class ultimately told.

Mattek-Sands made one last stand as Williams attempted to serve out for the match, forcing the seven-time grand slam winner to save three break points - the last of those with a brilliant backhand winner at the net - before sealing victory with a blistering serve that Mattek-Sands could only divert into the stands.

Williams, who will next play world number 46 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, a three-set winner over Chang Kai-Chen of Chinese Taipei, was pleased to have bought herself extra time to get her knee in order.

Reticent about talking of her fitness problems in specifics, Williams said she would do everything she could to fight off the pain and advance through the tournament.

"I love playing this event and I'm going to do my best to win every round," Williams said.

"Wear and tear puts a lot on your body. It's September now and I started in December so I guess it's not a surprise that at this time of year things start to get a little sore and start to hurt.

"But, you know, I'm very determined to still play my best tennis in spite of everything."

Watch Venus on SportsCenter Right Now

Williams may well need to be on top form if she is to get past Clijsters in their potential fourth round meeting.

The Belgian former world number one went a set down against Bartoli and then cruised to victory 5-7 6-1 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium, the second time in a month she has beaten the Frenchwoman since returning to competitive action in August.

Bartoli was the victim on her first game back at the WTA Tour event in Cincinnati, where she also beat world number six Svetlana Kuznetsova before losing to top seed Dinara Safina.

A week later in Toronto Clijsters also beat then number nine Victoria Azarenka and before being eliminated by Jelena Jankovic and she said: "It was a nice feeling to have in Cincinnati, Toronto, knowing that I was capable of beating some of those top 10 players again.

"But I haven't played the big ones yet, Venus, Serena (Williams), (Maria) Sharapova, (Elena) Dementieva.

"Hopefully I'll give myself a shot at doing that here but first, the third round."

Clijsters next faces fellow Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, who herself provided an upset when she blew away 20th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1 6-3.

There were still more seeds making early exits from the women's draw on Wednesday as number 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland fell prey to Russia's Maria Kirilenko, ranked 59 in the world, losing 6-4 2-6 6-4.

Also out was France's Amelie Mauresmo, the 17th seed, beaten soundly by Canada's world number 39 Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4 6-0, having been 4-3 up in the opening set.

"It is definitely painful and not really nice to have," Mauresmo said of her defeat, "but that's just how it is."

Order had been maintained on the Grandstand court where both seventh seed Vera Zvonereva and eight seed Victoria Azarenka progressed.

Zvonereva scored a 3-6 6-1 6-1 win over fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze while Azarenka of Belarus saw off Czech woman Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-2 6-1.

But then Australian Samantha Stosur took to the court and the 15th seed was knocked out 7-5 6-4 by American wild card Vania King.

Italy's Flavia Pennetta, seeded 10th, needed just 50 minutes to record the first "double bagel" of the tournament, beating India's Sania Mirza 6-0 6-0 on Louis Armstrong.

China's Na Li, seeded 18 ended Portuguese teenager Michelle Larcher De Brito's New York adventure with a 6-1 6-3 win over the 16-year-old, while there were also straight sets wins for number 26 Francesca Schiavone of Italy, over Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele, and number 31 Elena Vesnina of Russia, who beat American Jill Craybas.