Serena Williams will play Vera Zvonareva on Saturday but she had her hands full against 62nd ranked Petra Kvitova on Thursday.

In a day of upsets, Venus and Serena Williams asserted themselves and established themselves as big favorites to gain the finals.

Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will square off in a much touted Round of Sixteen pairing that began to look like a mismatch on Saturday.

In a stunning reversal, Samantha Stosur outplayed Serena Williams in the clutch and joins fourth seed Jalena Jankovic in the semifinals at Roland Garros.

It is safe, even easy, to say that Svetlana Kuznetsova is not a good frontrunner. She is not one of those athletes that relishes in carrying the number one bulls eye seed through an event. Svetlana is comfortable a bit down in the draw, say spots 6 – 10 and picking off higher seeds as they falter, just as unlikely candidates are now doing to her.

Bookmaker favorites Kim Clijsters and 3rd seeded Victoria Azarenka fell prey to the incredible upset trend that has prevailed throughout the 2010 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. For Clijsters, the loss to Russian Alisa Kleybanova ended a fifteen match winning streak at the desert venue and was a stunning blow to her career comeback. Combined with her humiliating loss to Nadia Petrova (6-0, 6-1) in Melbourne, it is clear that Clijsters has to re-focus a bit.

Svetlana Kuznetsova seems to have trouble in the limelight. Last year, Kuznetsova claimed her second Grand Slam in Paris and played so well that she jumped to number two in the world rankings. The notoriety has not served her well.

The 2010 Paribas Open in Indian Wells California is ready to go with many of the game’s top stars competing for more than $3.6 million in prize money. Women’s play begins today, March10th. Svetlana Kuznetsova is the top seed. Dane Caroline Wozniacki pulls seed number 2 followed by fast-rising Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva.

There is no need to worry about 20-year old Victoria Azarenka, who grunts for release. Do not bother that in her four years on the tour, she has not won a Grand Slam Event. Not to fear. The pretty, queen-to-be has succeeded at every level since joining the IT Tour in 2003.

Just when it appeared Venus Williams had lost her early momentum, the five-time Wimbledon Champion once again showed the mettle that has made her such a force on the WTA tour. 20-year old challenger Victoria Azarenka left no doubt that her day is on the horizon, but her big breakthrough will have to come another [...]