Petrova upsets top seed Williams in Madrid

Big-serving Nadia Petrova has had her ups and downs, but today in Madrid--no matter what came her way--she held her nerve, something she hasn't always done. Petrova defeated number 1 seed Serena Williams 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The 16th-seeded Russian, who is capable of excellent play on clay courts, gave Williams plenty of opportunities to break her, however--11 in the second set, and 18 in all. Williams failed to convert any of the break points in the second set, which undoubtedly gave Petrova a boost of confidence as she entered the final set of play.

Petrova, who advances to the quarterfinals, also hit 11 aces along the way.

I enjoyed watching Venus Williams play 15th seed Francesca Schiavone in their third round match; there were some good rallies of the sort than one generally sees only on clay. Williams prevailed, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The 2nd seed will now play the winner of the match between Sam Stosur and Patty Schnyder.

7th seed Jelena Jankovic defeated wild card Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a match that contained 19 breaks of serve. Wild card Arantxa Parra Santonja won her second round match against wild card Peng Shuai, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3, and saved two match points in the process. And in the late-night match, Lucie Safarova defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 6-7, 6-1, 7-6. The match lasted over 2 hours and 40 minutes, and Dulgheru held a match point.

In the second round of doubles, there were multiple upsets. Chuang Chia-Jung and Vania King defeated 4th seeds Liezel Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues, Shahar Peer and Francesca Schiavone defeated 6th seeds Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs (who won only two games), and Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaugnessy defeated 7th seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Yan Zi 6-7, 6-3, 10-8.

2nd seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez advanced to the third round with an easy win over Liga Dekmeijere and Alisa Kleybanova. 8th-seeded Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta advanced to the quarterfinals when they defeated Anastasia Rodionova and Patty Schnyder 6-4, 7-5.