By Nick Georgandis
© Mark Peterson/Corleve
Watch out, ladies. Svetlana's back.
A finalist here last year, Henin is the highest female seed to be beaten so far. Kuznetsova also reached the fourth round here a year ago, but was ranked and seeded third at the time. She came into the tournament this year ranked 26th and seeded 23rd after struggling to a 26-17 overall record in 2010.
Feasting on nine double faults and 41 unforced errors by Henin, Kuznetsova moves on to the fourth round to face sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, who routed Romania's Monica Niculescu 6-0, 7-6(2) in a match that was never in jeopardy, despite the second-set tie-breaker.
Wozniacki draws Latvian surprise Anastasija Sevastova in the fourth round. Sevastova, who upset Yanina Wickmayer in the second round, whipped Vesna Manasieva, herself an upset winner over Marion Bartoli, 6-1, 6-3.
The rest of the top half of the fourth round is studded with high seeds and name players, including Maria Sharapova, who rallied past Julia Georges, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
The start of Sharapova's match was delayed when she noticed a small bump on the court near the net that played unfavorably. The area, reasoned to a bubble caused by trapped vapor from a combination of heavy rain and high temperatures in the area, was remedied by a maintenance worker, but delayed the start of the match, drawing Sharapova's ire.
"Maybe it was comical to you. Wasn't really comical to us," Sharapova said post-match. "We warmed up and had to sit and wait for a while."
Sharapova overcame 11 double faults and nearly blew her 4-0 in third set before righting the ship, who will face Petkovic in the next round. Also advancing on a collision course with one another were China's Na LI and Belarus' Victoria Azarenka. Neither woman has lost a set to date, which should make Sunday's clash all the more interesting. Li mopped the floor with Barbora Zahlavova Syrycova Friday, hitting 65 winners to her opponent's 41.
Azarenka defeated Vesna Manasieva 6-1, 6-3, owning the return game by winning 55% of receiving points and breaking her opponent's serve five times.