NEW YORK (AP)—If Roger Federer is going to reach a seventh consecutive U.S. Open final, he might need to get past the man who ended his Grand Slam semifinal streak.

Five-time U.S. Open champion Federer was given a possible quarterfinal against two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling when the draw for this year’s U.S. Open was made Thursday.

The No. 5-seeded Soderling upset Federer in the quarterfinals in Paris this year, stopping Federer’s record run of reaching at least the semifinals at 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments.
 
The other men’s matchups in the quarterfinals could be No. 1-seeded Rafael Nadal against No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, two-time major finalist Andy Murray against Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, and No. 3 Novak Djokovic against No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko or No. 9 Andy Roddick.

The top-seeded woman, 2009 runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, could face 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

Other possible women’s quarterfinals set up Thursday are defending champion Kim Clijsters against French Open runner-up Sam Stosur, 2000-01 U.S. Open winner Venus Williams against French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, and 2008 U.S. Open finalist Jelena Jankovic against Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva.

Murray, hoping to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam title, could meet No. 20-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States in the fourth round. Another American, Wimbledon marathon man John Isner, is seeded 18th and also is in that quarter of the draw.

In the semifinals, Murray was drawn to meet Nadal, who lost in the last four in New York each of the past two years and is trying to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open for the first time.

Federer was drawn to meet Djokovic or Roddick in the semifinals. Aside from his potential rematch with Soderling, Federer could face another familiar opponent in the third round: 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Federer beat Hewitt in the 2004 U.S. Open final, part of a 15-match, head-to-head winning streak for Federer—which ended when Hewitt beat him in the final of a grass-court tournament at Halle, Germany, in June.

Federer lost in the 2009 U.S. Open final to Juan Martin del Potro, who—like No. 1-ranked Serena Williams—previously withdrew from this year’s tournament, having not recovered fully from surgery.

Williams’ older sister, Venus, who is seeded No. 3, could face an intriguing matchup in the third round against No. 32-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Pironkova has won two of her previous three matches against Venus Williams, including a straight-sets upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on June 29.

That was the last match Williams played on tour; she sprained her left kneecap in early August, forcing her to withdraw from hard-court tournaments in Cincinnati and Montreal.

The U.S. Open begins Monday, and Williams will have gone more than two months without a match by the time she meets her first-round opponent, Roberta Vinci of Italy, who is 1-7 for her career at Flushing Meadows.

As an accompaniment to an excellent article about how power has transformed women’s tennis, The New York Times Magazine posted hypnotic video clips of top players hitting in slow motion.

Set to hypnotic, Sigur Rós-like music, the seven short videos show Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Jelena Jankovic, Victoria Azarenka, Vera Zvonareva, Sam Stosur and Elena Dementieva taking single shots from various different angles. It’s a great piece of filmmaking and well worth your time.

Since we can’t embed the clips, we’ve pulled a screenshot from each video:

Each of the women was dressed in a frilly skirt, presumably for the same reason that most explosions in 3-D movies send debris toward the screen: it looks cool and shows off the technology. In Jelena Jankovic’s case, it had the added benefit of making her look like Cher circa 1969.

On the other hand, Serena went with the Cher in 1988 look. It’s cool to watch the focus of the eyes of each of the players as they’re getting ready to hit the ball. Serena, in particular, stares it down and keeps her eye on it until the moment of contact.

Somebody’s been eating her Vegemite. It’s no secret that Sam Stosur is ripped, but this video gives you a pretty good idea of just how ripped she is.

Of all the women, Kim makes it look the most effortless.

The dark background makes Zvonareva’s piercing blue eyes pop. And the good news is that she makes it through the 30 second clip without crying.

Vika’s video starts off with a close-up of her feet. Any time you see a professional’s footwork you get an appreciation for how much they’re moving and how much stress their lower bodies take during a match.

My favorite of the bunch. Dementieva looks like a member of the Moscow Ballet as she almost completes a full pirouette while lunging for the backhand.

NEW YORK (AP)—Caroline Wozniacki has been seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, getting the top spot at the U.S. Open because Serena Williams pulled out injured.

Wozniacki is ranked No. 2 behind Williams by the WTA. She was the runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year and is the first woman since 2003 to be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open without having won a major.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters is No. 2 in the seedings released Tuesday by the U.S. Tennis Association. She is followed by 2000-01 winner Venus Williams and 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic.

The seedings adhere strictly to the rankings.

Rafael Nadal is the No. 1-seeded man, with Roger Federer at No. 2.

The U.S. Open begins Monday.

TOKYO (AP)—Serena Williams is set to make a comeback at next month’s Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Williams, who has withdrawn from the U.S. Open to recover from foot surgery, is among eight of the world’s Top 10 players coming to the tournament in Tokyo, which opens on Sept. 26.

The three-time U.S. Open champion cut her foot in July shortly after winning Wimbledon, and her appearance in Tokyo would be her first since then. It would be also her first time at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva, French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic also have entered the tournament. Two-time champion Maria Sharapova is also coming back to defend her title.

Looks like Serena Williams‘ foot injury was worse than anyone believed.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion withdrew on Friday from the U.S. Open, saying she’s not yet recovered from surgery to repair cuts on her right foot. It was a surprise announcement, as it was widely assumed that Serena’s injury was a dubious excuse to avoid the required WTA tournaments during the U.S. hard court season.

Serena’s disdain for non-Grand Slam events and her partying ways after the injury led to a logical conclusion that she was dodging tournaments and would return for the Open, which she’s won three times. Then, late on Friday, she dropped the bombshell.

"It is with much frustration and deep sadness that I am having to pull out of the U.S. Open," Williams wrote in a statement, as reported by the Associated Press. "My doctors have advised against my playing so that my foot can heal."

She called missing the tournament "one of the most devastating moments of my career."

Her absence creates one of the most wide open women’s Grand Slam fields in recent memory. Defending champion Kim Clijsters will be the favorite heading into Flushing Meadows, but top two seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic will also be expected to make deep runs into the tournament.

The withdrawal of Serena could be most beneficial to Maria Sharapova though. The three-time Slam champion has been playing her best tennis in years this summer s as she finally seems recovered from the shoulder injury which threatened to derail her career. With the inconsistency of the rest of the top women’s players, Sharapova has a good shot of winning her first major since the 2008 Australian.

On the bright side for Serena, by skipping the Open, she’ll be able to avoid what would have been an inevitable onslaught of questions about her infamous tirade against a lineswoman during last year’s semifinal. The outburst, which brought about an unprecedented $82,500 fine, was sure to have been the focus of attention as Serena began play as the No. 1 seed starting next Monday.

Tennis players make up half of Forbes‘ list of highest-paid female athletes. Maria Sharapova topped the list, with an annual income estimated at $24.5 million.

Tennis players make up half of Forbes‘ list of highest-paid female athletes. Maria Sharapova topped the list, with an annual income estimated at $24.5 million.

MONTREAL (AP)—Kim Clijsters breezed into the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kaia Kanepi on Thursday.

Clijsters, who won at Cincinnati last week in three sets over Maria Sharapova, had to outlast American Bethanie Mattek-Sands the night before.

“I was playing an opponent who could not miss a shot, while today Kanepi was missing a lot, especially since her strengths are usually her serve and her backhand,” Clijsters said. “I really felt that I had opportunities once I was in a rally with her, and she was either going to make a mistake or I could really try to make her move.

“It’s always nice to win a tournament and gradually feel your level improve and also to have a matches like (Mattek-Sands) and in Cincinnati – to be behind and fight back and win.”

Clijsters will face Vera Zvonareva, the eighth seed from Russia who downed Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-3, 6-3.

Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied for 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory that put her into the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium, turning around the match after getting thrashed in the second set.

So what did she do during the break?

“I take a vodka shot, no?” Kuznetsova said with a laugh. “No, nothing like that. … I just go to the locker-room, change all my clothes, eat a banana and I go back. It’s very simple. It was 6-1, but almost every game was deuce, so it was pretty hard. I took a break and it worked.”

The win put 11th-seeded Kuznetsova into a quarterfinal Friday against Zheng Jie of China, who upset fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva 7-6 (3), 6-4.

The weather turned cool for the evening session after a brief rain delay, but it didn’t stop second-seeded Carolina Wozniacki from defeating 15th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 for her fourth win in as many meetings with the Italian.

Wozniacki next plays the winner of a late Thursday match between French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, seeded sixth, and 2008 Rogers Cup champ Dinara Safina.

In other matches, 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka downed ninth-seeded Li Na of China 6-3, 6-3, and 17th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France ousted Czech qualifier Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-1, who was coming off an upset win over top-seeded Jelena Jankovic.

Azarenka and Bartoli will face off in the quarterfinals.

It has been a difficult year for Kuznetsova, who was the first Russian woman to win the U.S. Open in 2004 and added a French Open title last year.

Back at Roland Garros as defending champion in May, Kuznetsova was beaten in the third round and the massive loss of points dropped her to 19th in the world ranking. Then she went down in the second round at Wimbledon, among other dubious results in 2010.

When she crossed to North America for the hardcourt season, things seemed to turn around. It was capped by a tournament win in San Diego two weeks ago, when she beat Radwanska in the final.

“I’m not used to having (played) so few matches,” Kuznetsova said. “It’s hard because the other players had so many matches from the start of the season.”

Her promising form may also bode well for the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 31 in New York. As well as her victory, she also was reached the final in 2007, losing to Justine Henin, who isn’t at the Rogers Cup. In her career, Kuznetsova is 2-16 against Henin.

“I love to play in the U.S. Open,” she said. “It’s good when you get there and you know that at least you have a game and you know what you’re doing on the court.”

Clijsters was glad to have played well in an afternoon match after having to stay up late to win a difficult second-round match over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Wednesday night.

However, the Belgian former world No. 1’s only loss to Zvonareva was the last time they played – in the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year.

“I think we always had tough matches, a lot of three-setters or very tough ones,” Zvonareva said. “I never managed to beat her and finally, at Wimbledon, I was able to play consistently.

“I always believe I could beat anyone on the other side of the net. You have to come out there and not only know the game plan, but be able to execute it. It is very important to play your best to beat someone in the quarter-finals in such a big event.”

MONTREAL (AP)—Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli won in straight sets Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.

Azarenka, the 10th seed from Belarus, defeated ninth-seeded Li Na of China 6-3, 6-3., while 17th-seeded Bartoli ousted Czech qualifier Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-1. Benesova was coming off an upset win over top-seeded Jelena Jankovic.

Azarenka and Bartoli will face each other on Friday.

Other players in action Thursday include fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, No. 5 seed Kim Clijsters and sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone.