Day 3: The Women

Really, the bottom half of the women's draw is a tale of two quarters. There's the Venus Williams quarter, where the second-seed is now one of just three seeds remaining, and there's the third quarter, where all eight seeds are still in, and some very intriguing matches await.
Williams followed sister Serena's pattern in her second-round win over Elena Makarova – win the first set 6-0, get tested in the second but come through 6-4. Easy, right? Up next for Williams is Alisa Kleybanova. After watching Kleybanova in Australia this year, I'll repeat what many others have said – on talent alone, she's a Top 10 player. Add in the fitness, though, and well, you get a player in the second half of the Top 30, who seems destined to live up to her seeding and not do too much more, because she isn't ranked highly enough to get better draws at the big events. Venus should get through that, as well as her fourth round match, against the winner of Angelique Kerber and Jarmila Groth. I'm going to give Groth a little edge here, mainly because of her strong run at Roland Garros. She and Kerber both knocked out seeded players – Kerber took out Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Groth topped Melanie Oudin 6-4, 6-3 – in the second round. I have a feeling Oudin, who was promoted when other players withdrew, would have had a better chance if she'd stayed in the top quarter, where she would have been playing less dangerous players.
Williams' likely quarterfinal opponent is Marion Bartoli, who didn't even have to pick up her racket Wednesday. She earned a walkover over Petra Martic, who was apparently suffering from an abdominal injury. Bartoli now plays Greta Arn, who knocked out Alicia Molik, a dangerous player on the grass, 7-5, 6-4. The other match in that section will feature Tsvetana Pironkova vs. Regina Kulikova. Pironkova has more experience than Kulikova, but that's about all I can really say about this one. It will be interesting, that's for sure.
As I mentioned before, the bottom half is a tale of two quarters, and the top quarter is where things are really interesting. Jelena Jankovic is getting no love from the press so far, even though she's the fourth seed here. She got pushed in the first round, and in the second round, she was pushed a little further – 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, but she's through and will play Alona Bondarenko next. These two should be getting to know each other pretty well. They played in Australia and at Roland Garros this year, splitting matches.
If Jankovic gets through that, she'll play the winner of Yanina Wickmayer vs. Vera Zvonareva. Zvonareva's looked pretty good, but she hasn't had any tough opposition yet – both of her opponents so far were qualifiers. She beat Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-4, 6-1 and then Andrea Hlavackova 6-1, 6-4. Wickmayer was struggling coming in, but she got revenge for her Eastbourne loss to Alison Riske in a three-set match and then out-toughed compatriot Kirsten Flipkens, 7-6(9), 6-4. I'm going to give her an edge in that one.
The top section also features a pair of very intriguing matches. Kim Clijsters, the eighth seed, will be playing Maria Kirilenko, seeded 27th. Really, Clijsters should be heavily favored in that one, but Kirilenko has come up good in the Slams this year. It will be interesting to see if she can get another big upset.
The winner of that match will get the winner of the match of the third round, Nadia Petrova vs. Justine Henin. These two have played twice this year, and Henin's won both, but it's been close – 7-5, 7-5 in Brisbane and 7-6(3), 7-5 at the Australian Open. If Clijsters and Henin both get through, we could be in for a great Round of 16 match. Stay tuned to fine out.