Despite Sharapova and Safina's exit, the women's tennis powerhouse has ensured at least two slots in the last eight of the australian open

Russian challenge hasn't ended with Sharapova and Safina's exit in Australian Open

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Russian challenge hasn't ended with Sharapova and Safina's exit in Australian Open

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Despite Sharapova and Safina's exit, the women's tennis powerhouse has ensured at least two slots in the last eight of the australian open

When the Australian Open started, there was little doubt that Russian women would make a strong showing into the quarterfinals.

Among the contenders were No 2 Dinara Safina, No 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova, No 5 Elena Dementieva and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova, whose seeding had slipped to No 14 due to time off the tour with a shoulder injury.

But as of Sunday, the four marquee Russian players had been eliminated, leaving the spotlight focused on three others whose names might be less familiar u2014 Maria Kirilenko, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova.

Kirilenko, who upset Sharapova in the first round, won her fourth-round match yesterday when Safina pulled out with a back injury and limped off the court.

Safina was facing set point, trailing 4-5 and serving at 30-40 when she retired.

Feeling bad
The 22-year-old Kirilenko, who is ranked No 58, will be making her first appearance at a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"I'm feeling bad for Dinara," said Kirilenko, adding she would have preferred not to have won by default but she was nonetheless "happy about it."

No 9 Zvonareva plays her fourth-round match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus today.

Then there's Petrova, the 27-year-old who first sent home US Open champion Kim Clijsters after a stunning 6-0, 6-1 upset in the third round and followed it up yesterday with a victory over Kuznetsova, the French Open champion.

Personal best
Petrova has equalled her best run at the Australian Open by reaching the last eight. She has never gone further than the semifinals at a major.

As a young player, Petrova looked set to become a star with her big serve and solid groundstrokes. In 2003, she reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, knocking off Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati on the way.

But she was upstaged in 2004 by other Russians. While Sharapova won Wimbledon that year and Anastasia Myskina won the French Open, Kuznetsova took home the trophy at the US Open, the year's last Grand Slam.

Petrova attributes some of her resurgence to the fighting spirit of Russian players. "There's a lot of competition between us," said the No 19-seeded Petrova. "There's a lot of us, obviously... Everyone of us wants to be the No 1 in our country."

On paper, yesterday's match looked close. Petrova had 25 winners compared with Kuznetsova's 22, and 47 unforced errors with Kuznetsova's 55. But Petrova held her nerve, while Kuznetsova let frustration get the best of her.

"Definitely she's getting confidence and she's playing at her best level that I've seen her at lately," Kuznetsova said.

A lot to achieve
Petrova agrees that her game is the best it's been in years u2014 and much of it is mental.

"I'm working hard and digging deep, because I know there's still a lot to accomplish," she said.

"I really want to finally be a complete player. I want to quit tennis knowing that I've done everything possible, that I developed as much as I could and I gave 100 per cent."

She will face a quarterfinal against Justine Henin, who continued her comeback to Grand Slams by beating compatriot Yanina Wickmayer, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3.