NEW YORK, NY, USA - Samantha Stosur and Elena Dementieva beat the rain early in the Friday schedule, reaching the second week of the US Open with comfortable wins - and setting up an intriguing fourth round duel.
Dementieva, seeded No.12, fell behind 5-2 as Daniela Hantuchova's game was in full flow, but she recovered to defeat the No.24-seeded Slovak in two sets, 75 62, her 12th win in the pair's 16 career encounters.
There was one short delay for rain, but nothing close to what was expected from Hurricane Earl. "It was so strange. From last evening, we were all talking about how bad it would be today. But when I was coming to the stadium I was looking out the window, thinking, 'Where is the rain, where is the wind?'" Dementieva said. "I was talking to Daniela after the match about it. There was sunshine, we didn't expect any rain there. It was good to finish early in the day though."
Stosur, the No.5 seed, followed with a 62 63 win over Sara Errani. Errani had almost beaten Stosur just a week ago, holding four match points against her in the early rounds in New Haven before falling in a third set tie-break.
Stosur had never been beyond the second round of the Open until this year: "You always book your hotel all the way through and hope for the best. I'm booked in for the long haul this time. I made the mistake a few years ago. I made the doubles final and nearly had to move hotels halfway through."
Dementieva leads Stosur in their head-to-head series, 4-1.
"We've had some good matches in the past," Stosur said of the Russian. "It's going to be whoever can execute the game plan better on the given day. I know what I need to do against her: if I do that, I have a chance."
"We haven't played for a long time and Sam has improved a lot," Dementieva said. "She has been playing very well this season. She's a very solid player with a huge serve. Samantha, Serena, they both have a very big serve, especially second serve. The women don't have this usually. It's not easy to play her."
