Day 6: The Women

Another day, another blockbuster Round of 16 match. One day after Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin set up their Monday matchup, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova followed suit. Williams got a fight in the second set of her 6-0, 7-5 win over Dominika Cibulkova, and Sharapova was also tested in her 7-5, 6-3 win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, but both are safely through. My head says Williams wins this one, but after the injuries she's dealt with these past few years, my heart is a little more with Sharapova. Either way, what a Round of 16!
The winner of that match will get the winner of - not a blockbuster in terms of names, but potentially one in terms of interesting tennis. Agnieszka Radwanska isn't the first name that comes to mind when talking about the top women, but make no mistake, she's a feisty, clever player. Na Li has officially joined the upper tier of women in the past 12 months, and she is also feisty, as well as strong and aggressive. And both had nearly identical scorelines - Radwanska beat Sara Errani 6-3, 6-1, and Li bested Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3.
One player who's had the luxury of floating quietly through her draw is Caroline Wozniacki. I thought Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova might give her some trouble, and she did, but Wozniacki proved to be just a little tougher, winning 7-5, 6-4. She gets to play one of the surprise players in the third round, Petra Kvitova. Kvitova, 20, upset Victora Azarenka 7-5, 6-0, but in tennis circles, this isn't a stunning result. Kvitova's a big player at 6'0" and a big hitter, and she's been to this stage before - she reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open last year. Like Pavlyuchenkova, Kvitova has a shot against Wozniacki, but I expect the Dane to keep going.
The final match of the top half will feature a couple more surprise players. Samantha Stosur's upset opened a door in the bottom half of the draw, and Klara Zakapalova and Kaia Kanepi have stepped right through. After beating Stosur on Day 2, Kanepi kept going, and she hasn't dropped a set yet, most recently demolishing 31st seed Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1, 6-2. What's more, she won't be awed by the situation. She's a former top 30 player who had a slump last year, but after qualifying and winning matches at consecutive Slams, I think it's safe to say she's back. Zakopalova, who took out 10th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-3, is much more surprising. This is the first time she's advanced this far at any Slam, and only the second time she's advanced past the second round of a Grand Slam. It's hard to know how she will respond in this situation.