Australian Open 2011, Day 8: Rafael Nadal, Kim Clijsters Through To Quarters; Robin Söderling Upset

Scores and highlights from Day 8 of the Australian Open 2011. The women’s quarterfinals field is set; joining Caroline Wozniacki, Francesca Schiavone, Li Na, and Andrea Petkovic will be Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, Agnieska Radwanska, and Petra Kvitova. Here’s how they got there:

• No. 2 Vera Zvonareva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4 6-1.

The knock on Zvonareva is her total lack of wins at Grand Slam events since turning pro in 2002; she’s fallen in the finals of the past two majors and is making a strong run at a third. She takes on the tournament’s second lowest-seeded woman remaining, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, in the quarters.

• No. 3 Kim Clijsters vs. Ekaterina Makarova

Is the sunny Belgian on her way to securing a “Rafa slam” of her own? Fresh off a trophy run at Flushing Meadows, Clijsters secured her fourth-round victory in much the same fashion as she defeated upstart Alize Cornet in the third: Grind out a first-set victory in tiebreakers, then hit the afterburners. The unlucky Agnieska Radwanska is her next opponent.

• No. 12 Agnieska Radwanska def. Peng Shuai, 7-5 3-6 7-5.

That broken racquet image will follow Radwanska around for quite some time, but with just her fourth quarterfinals berth since turning pro in 2006, Radwanska’s play is beginning to overshadow her punchline. That said, she’ll really have to exert some heretofore unseen control to get past Clijsters to the semis.

• No. 25 Petra Kvitova def. No. 22 Flavia Pennetta, 3-6 6-3 6-3.

Is this the draw of the unexpected, or what? You last saw Kvitova knocking off No. 5 Samantha Stosur and sapping the home Aussie crowd of a native rooting interest; Pennetta, for her part, eliminated No. 10 Shahar Peer. The former performed a minor upset to advance to Zvonareva; where we’ll see if a third straight semis berth is in store for the 2-seed.

Stay tuned to this StoryStream for more highlights of fourth-round play on Day 8 of the 2011 Australian Open.

Scores and highlights from Day 8 of the Australian Open 2011. The men’s quarterfinals field is set; joining Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych, and Stanislas Wawrinka will be Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, and Alexandr Dolgopolov. Here’s how they got there:

• No. 1 Rafael Nadal def. No. 15 Marin Cilic, 6-2 6-4 6-3.

Rafa’s run for what we’ll probably end up calling a “Rafa slam” (and, if you really want to get ahead of yourselves, his quest for an actual calendar Grand Slam) continues apace. In a coincidence that will be breathlessly and inaccurately described as “ironic” by pundits worldwide, the last men’s player to reign as champ of all four majors simultaneously was ... Rod Laver, after whom the main arena at the Australian Open is named. Spookay! Nadal is paired with No. 7 David Ferrer in the quarterfinals.