NEW YORK, NY, USA - For the first time since the 1994 US Open, eight nations were represented in the quarterfinal line-up at Flushing Meadows; Wednesday's line-up features Denmark, Estonia, Slovakia and Russia.
Arthur Ashe
[31] Kaia Kanepi (EST #32) vs. [7] Vera Zvonareva (RUS #8)
H2H: First meeting
After squandering a clutch of match points against Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon quarters, big-swinging Kanepi could have gone to pieces. But, no. Instead, this quiet achiever pocketed her first Tour title, at Palermo, and has now reached her first US Open quarterfinal - both Estonian firsts. So far at Flushing Meadows, the 25-year-old has made a couple of slow starts, including dropping the first set to love against Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth round. That could prove fatal today. Zvonareva, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Tuesday, hasn't dropped a set and with her fine all-round game has gained credence as one of the 'second tier' favorites for the title. She moves better than Kanepi does, and has more experience of big matches, but she'll need to keep control of the tempo of the match and not let herself become flustered. Kanepi's win over Jelena Jankovic will have served as a warning, and if things get tight the psychologies of this contest could get very interesting indeed.
[1] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #2) vs. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK #45)
H2H: Wozniacki leads 4-1
Two years ago this pair belonged to a posse of teenagers bunched between 10 and 20 in the rankings. Wozniacki had already started mopping up titles and she now owns 10, whereas Cibulkova, a year older, remains one of seven Top 50 players still hunting her maiden win. Still, the Slovak got to a Grand Slam semi first, at Roland Garros last year, and reached No.12 before injuries prompted a loss of confidence and a ranking reversal; having saved five match points against Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round, and beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova in the round of 16, she's caught a deserved break. However, quick and muscular as she is, Cibulkova's problem with Wozniacki, whom she hasn't beaten since 2007, is that the Dane is an exceedingly good mover too - and half a foot taller. That provides inherent power, and the top seed has added variety to her game. Above all, her fourth round defeat of Maria Sharapova had the ring of a bellwether about it.
More to watch…
A doubles quarterfinal opens proceedings on Arthur Ashe, with No.2 seeds Liezel Huber and Nadia Petrova facing fifth-seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Chan Yung-Jan and Zheng Jie, the No.7 seeds, play all-American duo Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy, seeded 15th, on Louis Armstrong. Later, Huber and Mattek-Sands face off in a mixed doubles semifinal, with their respective partners Bob Bryan and Daniel Nestor.
