2010 U.S. Open Day 9: Nadal & Clijsters Advance; Querrey Defeated; Venus Is Last Remaining American

Highlights from Day 9 of the 2010 U.S. Open:

•  No. 2 Kim Clijsters def. No. 5 Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
During the match tonight, Mary Joe called the presence of Clijsters' daughter a good thing, saying it takes her mind off tennis and helps her find balance. Can MJ please be dispatched to cover Federer with a quickness? That's a refreshingly thought-out perspective we don't see much where he's concerned.

•  No. 1 Rafael Nadal def. No. 23 Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Ho-hum. Brush off your lefty jokes for the Nadal-Verdasco quarterfinal!

•  No. 3 Venus Williams def. No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
An actual exchange in the ESPN booth during the match, ostensibly concerning Venus' serve:

"Is it big, or is it just well-placed?"
"No, it's big, very big."
"Lots of action on it, too."

As you were.

•  No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka def. No. 20 Sam Querrey, 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Our 2010 U.S. Open clubhouse leader for "longest hyperlink"!

•  No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny def. Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
The first of three lengthy matches in the men's fourth round today, this was also the least interesting thanks to the marked absence of either an American player or athletic histrionics. Yawn.

•  No. 8 Fernando Verdasco def. No. 10 David Ferrer, 5-7, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
The second of Verdasco's unholy tiebreaker shots this evening, his match-point winner, is available for your adulation and children's parties.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

Top seed Rafael Nadal needed just over two hours to defeat No. 23 Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round of the 2010 U.S. Open. Lopez displayed extremely poor control in the first set in particular, and Nadal's serve remains unbroken in this year's tournament.

Rafa will play Fernando Verdasco in the quarterfinals.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

Nobody was paying much attention to the fourth-round U.S. Open match between 8th-seeded Fernando Verdasco and 10th-seeded David Ferrer tonight. The match dragged to nearly four and a half hours, and ESPN (justifiably) spent most of it tuned to Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters. The moments we were treated to, however, were utter treasures.

Verdasco is the man of the evening on Day 9, coming back from a two-set deficit to win 5-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), with two shots sure to make tournament highlight reels. Just to ratchet up the drama, both came on tiebreaker points. In the second set, he hit a ridiculous "frozen rope" forehand before dropping the set to Ferrer. The final shot of the night made up for earlier misfortunes, however, as Verdasco bolted to the net to return a drop shot behind Ferrer for match point.

Verdasco faces the winner of Nadal-Lopez in the quarterfinals.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

Even if, like me, you're predicting a Caroline Wozniacki win, it's patently impossible not to love Kim Clijsters. In a 2010 U.S. Open quarterfinals match that started late and ran later, she maintained her bubbly charm amid ghastly on-court conditions, defeating 5th-seeded Sam Stosur 6-4. 5-7, 6-3. (The evening's intangibles award went to Stosur's crisp purple Lacoste dress.) The ladies battled the weather at least as often as they battled each other; by the second set both players were displaying visible frustration with the windy stadium.

Kim Clijsters has now won 19 straight matches at Flushing Meadows, and will face Venus Williams in the semis.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

It took No. 3 Venus Williams just under two hours to defeat No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the 2010 U.S. Open. The defending French Open champ played Williams viciously close in the first set, but was overpowered as the match wore on. Williams moved easily in her sparkly pink fireworks dress, displaying none of the apparent discomfort that occasioned so much on-air comment during her third-round match. (Maybe it's broken in now? And really, who cares, when dude athletes adjust their junk on television every three minutes and no one blinks?)

Williams will face the winner of the Stosur-Clijsters match in the semifinals.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

No more American men remain in play at the 2010 U.S. Open. After a grueling, five-set match that lasted well over four hours in harsh, windy conditions, Sam Querrey was defeated by Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.

Fowler and McEnroe called it the most exciting match thus far in the men's draw. They're correct, and it's not even close. No. 25 Wawrinka faces 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals.

For more U.S. Open coverage, visit SB Nation's Daily Forehand.

American Sam Querrey looked like he was in trouble. His fourth-round opponent at the 2010 U.S. Open, Stanislas Wawrinka, won the tightly contested first set in a tiebreaker and looked ready to take the second.

But down a break at 4-5, Querrey fought off four set points to bring it to 5-5. After a pair of holds, he dug in and won the tiebreaker, 7-5, evening the match at a set a piece.

The players are on serve in the third.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny upended Spaniard Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in the fourth round of the 2010 U.S. Open Tuesday. Youzhny, the No. 12 seed, piled up 50 winners in the match, which lasted just over three hours.

Youznhy will face the winner of the Sam Querrey/Stanislas Wawrinka match. Querrey dropped an incredibly tight first set in a tiebreaker.