Elena vs. Sam. Ana vs. Kim. There are some high-pressure women’s showdowns brewing in the U.S. Open round of 16.
Early on Day Five at the 2010 US Open, Elena Dementieva took out No. 24 seed Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-2. Dementieva recently admitted to spending a month recovering in her bed after a calf injury forced her to retire midway through her semifinal match at the French Open, but with a few U.S. Open warm-up tournaments under her belt, including a semifinal appearance in New Haven, she looks to be back in top form and ready to face her next opponent: 2010 French Open finalist, Sam Stosur.
Stosur’s appearance at the U.S. Open was in doubt in recent weeks as the Australian continued to struggle with a nagging arm injury, but she showed no sign of discomfort in her 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy’s Sara Errani. This was the second time in two weeks that the two had met, but clearly Stosur made some adjustments after narrowly squeaking out a victory in a third set tiebreak the first time around.
Ana Ivanovic continued her inspiring run today with a convincing win over French veteran Virginie Razzano 7-5, 6-0. She was all smiles after needing just 20 minutes to close out the second set, but she’ll now face a much tougher test in the form of defending champion Kim Clijsters who made easy work of No. 27 seed Petra Kvitova 6-3, 6-0.
Venus Williams closed out the day with a predictable 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg as sister Serena looked on. Perhaps less predictable was Venus’s “New York By Night,” sparkling black ensemble complete with glimmering nude-colored underthings. She will face Shahar Peer next.
There were some great matches on the fifth day of competition in New York, but the highlight came from exuberant Italian Francesca Schiavone when she successfully hit a between the legs shot or “tweener” in her win over Alona Bonderenko.
“I’d like to see it again,” she said, smiling.
By Blair Henley