January 25, 2010

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Venus and Serena Williams are one win away from yet another Grand Slam confrontation after the sisters advanced to the round of eight on Monday in Melbourne.

Venus came from behind to defeat Italy’s Francesca Schiavone to earn a berth in the Australian Open quarter-finals for the seventh time in her illustrious career while World No. 1 and defending champion Serena ousted the last remaining Aussie hopeful Samantha Stosur in straight sets en route to the final eight. Next up for both is a pair of first-time Australian Open quarter-finalists as Venus is set to face Li Na of China while Serena has a date with World No. 7 Victoria Azarenka. Li Na upset World No.4 Caroline Wozniacki in her Round of 16 match and Azarenka got the better of World No. 9 Vera Zvonareva, coming from a set and a break down to win Monday’s final match at Rod Laver Arena.

If the sisters are successful in eliminating their next foes they will meet for the 24th time and thirteenth time at a Major. Serena holds a 13-10 edge in their previous encounters.

Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, the Belgian comeback queen Justine Henin stands a few wins away from duplicating the remarkable U.S. Open feat of her compatriot Kim Clijsters who won last season’s final Grand Slam event in just her third tournament back from retirement. Henin has exhibited her champion’s form during the fortnight making it seem as though she been away from the game for eighteen days instead of months. En route to the quarters, the seven-time Grand Slam champion has defeated the likes of World No. 5 Elena Dementieva and fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer. In the final eight, the 2004 Australian Open winner will play Russian Nadia Petrova who is enjoying the tournament of her life after dominating Clijsters and World No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova in consecutive matches to earn a quarter-final spot.

The fourth and final quarter-final will pit two surprise contenders in the latter stages of a Major as Maria Kirilenko and Jie Zheng will do battle for a coveted semifinal berth. Kirilenko, who turns 23 on Monday, offered herself quite the early birthday gift by advancing to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, a run which has included an impressive opening round victory over her good friend Maria Sharapova. Zheng is trying to reach her second Grand Slam semifinal after making it to the round of four at Wimbledon in 2008.

Fans can follow all of the action from the season’s first Grand Slam event by visiting www.australianopen.com and can watch what promises to be an exciting second week on the ladies side Down Under on TSN and RDS in Canada.