Maria Kirilenko, on reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal a day before her 23rd birthday: “When I was a kid, I had a dream, you know, to be in a Grand Slam main draw in Australia when I have a birthday. I think my dream comes true.

“I don’t want to get drunk before my next match. It’s going to be difficult for me to play then. But, yeah, maybe after when I finish with my tournament I will celebrate with the girls from the locker room, with all my friends.”

Well, it’s going to be hard think about tennis for at least a few more hours today, what with the New York Jets playing for the AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts this afternoon. But how about those performances by Nadia Petrova and Marin Cilic yesterday?

In my last post, I said the Juan Martin del Potro vs. Cilic match would be a good yardstick for measuring Cilic’s progress over the last few months. If this win can be taken as representative, we have another legitimate contender at the Grand Slam poker table. I thought it impressive that Cilic won despite having made a boatload of errors (71), but the thing that got me juiced was that he made just four fewer winners -  won 41 points at the net. 

All that tells you that Cilic is playing very positive tennis – going for his shots, attacking and taking the game to his opponent. 

Real quick, the matches that catch my eye for today are the clashes between Vera Zvonareva and Victoria Azarenka, the coach swappers, and Serena Williams and Slammin’ Sammy Stosur. And Lleyton Hewitt is up against it, judging from the gears Roger Federer has been finding.

Anyway, enjoy the tennis and hurry sundown!

– Pete

Shortly after Andy Murray finished off John Isner this afternoon, I ran over to Hisense Arena to catch the third set of Nadia Petrova’s 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 defeat of Svetlana Kuznetsova, my pre-tournament pick to win it all here (so much for that). Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, never seemed to get her rhythm in this tournament, making 43 unforced errors in her come-from-behind victory over qualifier Angelique Kerber in the third round Friday night and another 52 today. Looking scattered and frustrated, the world No. 3 lost her serve three times in the deciding set, and afterwards cited the fact that she is short on match play as a contributing factor to her low level here (she lost early in Sydney, her only Tour event leading up to this one).

But though Kuznetsova “deserved to lose,” as she bluntly put it, the result had as much to do with the powerful play of No. 19 Petrova as it did with Kuznetsova’s errors. The veteran Petrova has always been a big server with penetrating groundstrokes, but she’s been notoriously short on poise in the most critical moments of big matches. Twice a semifinalist at the French Open, she’s reached the quarterfinals at each of the other majors, but has made a name for herself not as a perennial Top 15 player (with a career high ranking of No. 3 achieved in 2006), but as a would-be major player who is prone to major meltdowns. Just last year, in fact, she suffered excruciating exits from two Slams. In the second round at Roland Garros, she led Maria Sharapova at 2-4, 15-40 in the third set before losing 8-6. And in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, she was dominating Melanie Oudin when her game disintegrated in the second set; Oudin won in three.

Today, Petrova showed more of the form that earned her a stunning 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Kim Clijsters on Friday. Despite making 47 unforced errors, Petrova returned Kuznetsova’s serve well and managed not to unravel after being broken in the opening game of the deciding set. “I fought hard. I chased every single ball possible,” she said, echoing comments she’d made after the Clijsters match.

Petrova said her off-season fitness work gave her the confidence to play aggressively—“I know how much gas I have in my tank, so I know that I can really push and dig really deep”—but the source of her newfound on-court composure is harder to pinpoint.

“It’s just a game. It’s not the end of the world if you lose a match, because life goes on,” she said of the perspective she’s gained from more than 11 years on the tour. “Maybe because of that, I feel a little bit more relaxed. I’m not as stressed if I make a silly mistake or something doesn’t go my way, because I can still make the best out of this day.”

The new nothing-to-lose attitude should serve Petrova well against Justine Henin, a woman who has beaten her twice already (once in exhibition) since her recent return from retirement. Also a factor is the fact that Henin has played three tough three-setters in a row. Petrova is the fresher of the two, and if she is as fit as she claims to be, she might have the edge against the Belgian in a long match.

“I’ve played her recently twice, so I know what to expect,” Petrova said. “I know what kind of balls are going to be coming at me. It’s going to be maybe even easier for me to play her, because it’s so fresh in my mind.”

Regardless of whether familiarity will breed success, Petrova’s run to the quarterfinals—her best Aussie Open result in four years—is one of the better storylines of the women’s tournament so far this year. Her fallibility has always made her a sympathetic character; she’s a little pudgy, a little gawky, appealingly earnest. But now that she seems to have developed some competitive fortitude to go along with her powerful baseline game, her best results may still be ahead of her.

“That’s why, you know, I’m still here,” the 27-year-old said today. “I know there’s still a lot to accomplish. There’s still a lot to let out.”

Serena and Venus Williams will not play in the U.S.A’s Fed Cup tie in France the weekend after the Australian Open, reports tennisreporters.net.

The sisters, who own shares in the Miami Dolphins, are planning to attend an NFL meeting. Serena is scheduled to be in France the following week, however, having entered the Paris Indoors.

Maria Kirilenko def. (2) Dinara Safina 5-4 ret.
(19) Nadia Petrova def. (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Jie Zheng def. (31) Alona Bondarenko 7-6(5), 6-4
(WC) Justine Henin def. (Q) Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3

(7) Andy Roddick def. (11) Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
(14) Marin Cilic def. Juan Martin del Potro 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
(2) Rafael Nadal def. Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
(5) Andy Murray def. (33) John Isner 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2

Jun Martin del Potro defeated Marin Cilic in the fourth round of the Australian Open last year to kick off a Grand Slam season that would end with the Argentine winning the U.S. Open — and scoring another win over his generational rival along the way.

This year Cilic is the one to score an early win, taking their four-hour, 33-minute match 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

The two were born five days apart and grew up playing each other in the juniors.

Cilic said last year’s losses to del Potro prepared him for their latest encounter. “I took some experience from that match [at the US Open], and also from the match over here last year,” he said. “It was different occasion. I played well since the beginning of the year. I knew what I could expect from him. The things he did in New York, was easier for me to adjust here because I knew what could be coming.”

Del Potro, meanwhile, has admitted he is struggling to adjust to being a Grand Slam champion, and has also been experiencing problems with his wrist.

Andy Roddick won the vital fourth set of his 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win over Fernando Goznalez at the Australian Open after overturning an out call with a successful HawkEye challenge. The point was awarded to Roddick, but Gonzalez argued that it should have been replayed because he would have returned the shot if it had been called in.

Roddick was on the other end of a similar situation at match poit in his third-round match earlier in the week, arguing that the point should have been replayed instead of awarded to his opponent because Roddick had had a play on the ball.

The decision to award the point or replay it after a HawkEye overrule is at the umpire’s discretion, based on a judgment about whether the rally would have continued if there had been no call from the linesman.

Maria Kirilenko, on reaching her first Grand Slam final a day before her 23rd birthday: “When I was a kid, I had a dream, you know, to be in a Grand Slam main draw in Australia when I have a birthday. I think my dream comes true.

“I don’t want to get drunk before my next match. It’s going to be difficult for me to play then. But, yeah, maybe after when I finish with my tournament I will celebrate with the girls from the locker room, with all my friends.”

Justine Henin is through to the quarterfinals of the Austrlian Open after battling past Yanina Wickmayer 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3 but her legs are feeling the effects of a tough first week.

Henin picked up an ankle sprain on Sunday to go along with the leg, foot and cramping problems she has experienced during the week. “My left leg is quite sore. Sprained my ankle today also when I fell down,” said Henin. “I hope it’s going to be okay tomorrow. So physically it hasn’t been easy in the last few days.”

After playing for two hours and 50 minutes to battle past Elena Dementieva in the second round, Henin came from a set and a break down to defeat Alisa Kleybanova in the third round and faced three set points in the first set against Wickmayer.

But the former No. 1, playing only her second event after returning from retirement, is positive about her prospects for the rest of the tournament and the season.

“I think my game improved. It’s just that we can still feel that it’s only my second tournament.

“But, like I said, I didn’t play tennis for two more years, so I probably love to spend more time on the court.

“I couldn’t think I could be at this level at this time of the year… It’s magical out there the way I feel. I feel so happy on the court. I feel it’s my place. I feel, I wouldn’t say different, but I enjoy it much more, and I find the passion again.”