Day 8:

Upset of the day: Elena Makarova defeats Serena Williams
Seriously, who saw that coming? Makarova stunned 5-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams 6-2 6-3.

Match of the day: Novak Djokovic (1) vs Lleyton Hewitt

Day 8 results:
Elena Makarova def Serena Williams (12)
Maria Sharapova (4) def Sabine Lisicki (14) 3-6 6-2 6-3
Sara Errani def Jie Zheng 6-2 6-1
Petra Kvitova (2) def Ana Ivanovic (21) 6-2 7-6
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Lleyton Hewitt
David Ferrer (5) def Richard Gasquet (17) 6-4 6-4 6-1
Andy Murray (4) vs Mikhail Kukushkin
Kei Nishikori (24) def Jo-Wifried Tsonga (6) 2-6 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-3
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Day 7:

Match of the day: Kim Clijsters defeats Li Na
In a rematch of last year’s final, Kim Clijsters saved four match points before beating Li Na 4-6 7-6 6-4.

Stat of the day – 1: 50
The number of Jankovic‘s unforced errors in her 0-6 5-7 loss to Wozniacki. I feel really sorry for the spectators who had to endure this.

Stat of the day – 2: 31
Roger Federer is in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the 31st consecutive time. Last player to beat him before the QFs was Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros in 2004.

Day 7 results:
Caroline Wozniacki (1) def Jelena Jankovic (13) 6-0 7-5
Kim Clijsters (11) def Na Li (5) 4-6 7-6 6-4
Victoria Azarenka (3) def Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-2
Agnieszka Radwanska (8) def Julia Goerges (22) 6-1 6-1
Juan Martin Del Potro (11) def Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 6-1
Roger Federer (3) def Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-2 6-2
Tomas Berdych (7) vs Nicolas Almagro (10) 4-6 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 7-6(2)
Rafael Nadal (2) def Feliciano Lopez (18) 6-4 6-4 6-2
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Day 6:

Match of the day: Lleyton Hewitt defeats Milos Raonic
Love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit Hewitt always plays with the heart on his sleeve. And today he gave a big lesson of will and determination to big server Raonic.

Upset of the day: Mikhail Kukushkin defeats Gael Monfils
One day he beats Nadal and one day he loses to Kukushkin, ranked 92. Gael Monfils, King of inconsistency and missed opportunities.

The tournament really begins tomorrow with the fourth round matches:

Women’s singles:
Caroline Wozniacki (1) vs Jelena Jankovic (13)
Kim Clijsters (11) vs Na Li (5)
Victoria Azarenka (3) vs Iveta Benesova
Julia Goerges (22) vs Agnieszka Radwanska (8)
Ekaterina Makarova vs Serena Williams (12)
Sabine Lisicki (14) vs Maria Sharapova (4)
Sara Errani vs Jie Zheng
Ana Ivanovic (21) vs Petra Kvitova (2)

Men’s singles:
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Lleyton Hewitt
Richard Gasquet (17) vs David Ferrer (5)
Andy Murray (4) vs Mikhail Kukushkin
Kei Nishikori (24) vs Jo-Wifried Tsonga (6)
Philipp Kohlschreiber vs Juan Martin Del Potro (11)
Bernard Tomic vs Roger Federer (3)
Tomas Berdych (7) vs Nicolas Almagro (10)
Feliciano Lopez (18) vs Rafael Nadal (2)
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Day 5:

Match of the day: Bernard Tomic defeats Alexandr Dogolopolov 4-6 7-6(0) 7-6(6) 2-6 6-3
It was all about Tomic at Melbourne Park today… again. Next opponent for the 19 years old Aussie: his idol, Roger Federer.

Stat of the day: 0
It’s the first time since 1973 that no U.S. men have reached round of 16 at the Australian Open.

Video of the day: Bernard Tomic: realising the potential

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The WTA‘s new global advertising campaign features 38 players in TV, print and digital ads.

“Drawing upon athleticism and grace, the campaign places the personal stories, pressures and dreams of the players front of stage. The creative is designed to support the WTA’s efforts to establish a deeper engagement with fans around the world and to promote both the sport’s next generation of players along with current established names.”

The first in a series of advertisements for “Strong is Beautiful”, this 30 second commercial focuses on all of the characteristics necessary to become a successful professional tennis player.

Featured players: Sam Stosur, Ana Ivanovic, Li Na, Caroline Wozniacki, Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka & Kim Clijsters.

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Update: Enter our Top Spin 4 give away!

The brand new Top Spin 4 – the latest installment of the tennis video game franchise – is releasing March, 15th 2011 in the US and March, 18th 2011 internationally, packed with exciting new features!

Top Spin 4 features 5 of the top 10 on the ATP rankings (Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Roddick), as well as four of the top 10 on the WTA rankings (Wozniacki, Serena Williams, Zvonareva, Jankovic).
Every detail from their look, attitude, attributes, strengths & weaknesses and play style have been implemented in the game. Each player has signature animations for their own swings and attitude.

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After Safina and Ivanovic, an other former world number one was knocked out of the tournament: Jelena Jankovic was defeated by 54-ranked Shuai Peng.
Second seed Zvonareva was pushed to the limit by Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski before recovering to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur continue to impress and book their place in the third round.

On the men’s side, Nadal, Soderling and Murray progress easily to the last 32.

Seeds upsets:
Jelena Jankovic (7), Maria Kirilenko (18), Alisa Kleybanova (24), Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (26), Michael Llodra (22), David Nalbandian (27), Thomaz Bellucci (30)

Aussie of the day:
The big Australian hope Bernard Tomic, defeated the much more experienced Feliciano Lopez in straight sets. The 2008 Australian Open junior champion is more known for his feud with Lleyton Hewitt than for his ATP results, but one say he has finally matured. He will next encounter world number one Rafael Nadal.

Match of the day: Marcos Baghdatis defeats Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro is back from injury but not yet at his top. He lost to 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis in four sets 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The Cypriot will play Jurgen Melzer on Saturday for a place in the fourth round.

Matches to follow on day 5:
Svetlana Kuznetsova(RUS)[23] vs Justine Henin(BEL)[11]
Stanislas Wawrinka(SUI)[19] vs Gael Monfils(FRA)[12]
Nicolas Almagro(ESP)[14] vs Ivan Ljubicic(CRO)[17]

- Top stars Federer, Djokovic, Wozniacki and Sharapova breeze into fourth round. Only semi-surprise: 2008 runner-up Jelena Jankovic was ousted was 31th seed Kaia Kanepi.

- US player of the day: Mardy Fish
It took him 3 1/2 hours and five sets, but Mardy Fish managed to advance to fouth round with his win over Arnaud Clément. It’s an awesome summer for him: he won in Newport (grass) and Atlanta (hard) and reached the final in Cincinnati (lost to Federer). Fish’s next opponent: Novak Djokovic.

- Stat of the day: 3
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki only lost 3 games in 3 matches. The task should be harder in the 4th round where she’ll meet 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova.

- Player of the day: Maria Sharapova
Sharapova double-bageled young american Beatrice Capra to advance to round 4.

- Matches to follow on day 7:
4th round:
Ana Ivanovic(SRB) vs. Kim Clijsters(BEL)[2]
Samantha Stosur(AUS)[5] vs. Elena Dementieva(RUS)[12]
3rd round:
Mikhail Youzhny(RUS)[12] vs. John Isner(USA)[18]
Sam Querrey(USA)[20] vs. Nicolas Almagro(ESP)[14]
Andy Murray(GBR)[4] vs. Stanislas Wawrinka(SUI)[25]

- Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki win in straight sets and advance to the second round where they’ll meet (respectively) Denis Istomin and Kai-Chen Chang.
Things were much more complicated for Djokovic and Verdasco who endured 5 sets against Troicki and Fognini.
Number 4 seed Jelena Jankovic survive scare to beat number 96-ranked Romanian Simon Halep 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Like Jankovic, 2006 champion Maria Sharapova needed 3 sets to defeat Australian Jarmila Groth.

- Upset of the day: Arnaud Clément defeats Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 2- 6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
Baghadtis, who beat Nadal in Cincinnati was stunned by french veteran Clément in 5 sets. Both players are former Australian Open runner-ups.

- Seeds upsets: Na Li (8), Petrova (16), Safarova (26), Baghdatis (16), Gulbis (24), Monaco (30)

- US player of the day: James Blake
Blake, quarterfinalist at Flushing Meadows in 2005 and 2006, is now ranked 108 and received a wild card to enter the tournament. He showed some of his past brilliance to secure a much needed victory against Kristof Vliegen.

- Stat of the day: 25.2 – Number in millions of dollars of the potential 2010 US Open payout, including Olympus US Open Series bonuses.

- Player of the day: Rafael Nadal
He faced (and saved) only one break point in his first round match against Gabashvili. Nadal extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 15 matches, after his titles at the French Open in June and Wimbledon in July.