On Wednesday, Serena Williams was reminded that when Nadia Petrova’s serve is in the groove, the husky Russian has the ability to eliminate any player on the women’s tour.

Serena Williams, the top seed at the $4.5 million Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, was unable to power her way past the persistent 16-seed, who advanced to the quarter finals with her impressive come-from-behind win.

In a bracket of upset winners, Petrova is the highest seed to advance to the final eight. She will next face Czech Lucie Safarova who was pressed by unseeded Olga Govortsoa of Belarus.

Safarova’s experience and composure allowed her to comeback from a 4-6 first set loss to close the match at 6-2, 7-5. Lucie’s strong yet patient baseline play was effective on the red clay of Madrid. The more patience Safarova showed, the more effective her game was.

Against the bruising play of Petrova, Safarova will be hard-pressed to hold her composure. Even on Madrid’s red clay, Nadia’s forceful play was impressive.

A tour veteran, Petrova’s cross-to-bear has more often been linked to her emotional state than the quality of her game.

Against Serena, Petrova kept her temperament in check. The volatile blonde out-served the world’s top player, registering 11 aces to Serena’s 2. The win was Nadia’s third over a world number one. Previously, she defeated Justine Henin in 2004 and Amelie Mauresmo in 2006.

Serena appeared recovered from the longest match of her career, a 3 hour 30 minute marathon thriller 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) against Russia’s Vera Dushevina in the second round. Against Petrova, Serena grabbed the first set by breaking Nadia in the critical 10th game.

However, the key game in the match was the second game of the second set. After holding her serve, Williams forced ten deuce points before Nadia manage to hold and square the set at 1-1. From there, Petrova had her way with the American as she held serve throughout the last two sets, 6-2, 6-3.

At the outset of the tournament, Russian players dominated the women’s draw. Now, only Petrova remains as countrywomen Dementieva (8), Dushevina, Vesnina, Sharapova (11), Pavlyuchenkova, Safina (3), Kirilenko, Zvonareva, Kuznetsova (5) and Kleybanova all lost in early rounds. High seeds Kuznetsova and Safina lost in the first round.

Venus Williams Advances – Grabs 2nd Ranking

Venus Williams at Madrid Open

Joining Petrova in the quarterfinals will be another hot player and Serena’s older sister, Venus Williams. With her win over Francesca Schiavone, Venus will take over the tour’s number two ranking, restoring some order to future WTA seedings. The elegant Venus last held this spot in 2003.

The 15th seeded Italian came up short of Venus, who seemed as nimble as ever in the three set 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph. Williams endured an early first set service break but was nearly flawless in the final two sets.

Thus far, Venus has enjoyed a successful and profitable season. If she has shown any weakness, it is her inability to win the initial set of big matches. As players prepare for the French Open at Roland Garros, Venus needs to get out of the starting gate in a more convincing manner. Odds are that she will.

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