Oudin falls, Men's Seeds Roll On

It was a big day at the Racquet Club of Memphis as the men completed the second round of the draw. Starting off the day was 6’5” Tomas Berdych, who dispatched American Michael Russell in three tough sets.

Immediately following on Stadium Court, 6’10” Ivo Karlovic made short work of Xavier Malisse, 64 64. The big Croat was able to control the match with his big serve, hitting 18 aces compared to only four for the Belgian.

The big men continued to find the winner’s column in the third match of the day when 6’6” Sam Querrey of the United States took on Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. Giving up only two games, Querrey moved into the quarters, where he will meet the winner of the evening match, Andy Roddick. The short man on the day standing only 6’3”, Roddick took only two sets to send Lu Yen-Hsun onto his next tournament. The two Americans will take to the court in Friday evening’s night session, a repeat of the 2009 quarterfinal, where Roddick dismissed Querrey on his way to the title.

 In other men’s action, Lukas Lacko continued on, as well as the doubles teams of Hutchins/Kerr, Fish/Knowles, Querrey/Isner and Lipsky/Martin.

The collision course everyone was following became no more at the Cellular South Cup on Thursday, as Melanie Oudin fell in the quarterfinals. Maria Sharapova moved on, however.

Oudin, the No.2 seed at the International event, was the first to take the court but it didn't end well, as she was ousted comprehensively, 61 63, by Sofia Arvidsson. But don't let Arvidsson's qualifier status deceive - the Swede won this very tournament four years ago, her lone Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title to date.

"Sofia played a really good match. I can see how she won this tournament before. She's a really good player," Oudin blogged. "I tried everything I could but I wasn't playing my best tennis today. She played well, so that's how I ended up losing. I've been playing a lot of matches lately but that's not an excuse for me - I actually play better when I play a lot, I like playing a lot. I just have to keep working hard now."

Sharapova, seeded No.1 and a heavy favorite for the title upon Oudin's departure, was tested late in the match but still managed to close out No.8 seed Elena Baltacha in straight sets, 62 75.

Also advancing to the semifinals were No.5 seed Petra Kvitova, who saved a match point down 5-4 in the third set to beat No.3 seed Kaia Kanepi, 16 63 76(0); and Anne Keothavong, who reached her second straight semifinal in Memphis with a 64 63 win over Karolina Sprem. Sharapova will play Kvitova; Arvidsson will play Keothavong.