Henin plays up to No 1 billing

Justine Henin and Serena Williams sidestepped each other for four years until they contested the final of the Sony Ericsson Championships in Miami five months ago. Since then they have barely been able to avoid crossing paths and today they will meet for the third time in a row in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

Henin has dropped just 11 games in her first four matches at the US Open and the diminutive Belgian is looking every inch the world No 1. Her latest victim, Dinara Safina, the No 15 seed, lasted less than an hour on Sunday night. She had no answer to Henin's speed around the court and theaccuracy of her ground strokes.

"I was ready for a good battle," Henin said afterwards. "I was very aggressive and went to the net a lot on my serves. It's good because I know I will need that in my next match."

On the evidence of her emphatic fourth-round victory over Marion Bartoli, Williams will indeed provide a much stiffer test. The American beat Henin in Miami despite losing the first set 6-0, and although she was swept aside in straight sets after a lacklustre display at the French Open she pushed the Belgian all the way at Wimbledon, despite playing with a badly sprained thumb.

"At Wimbledon I couldn't hit a backhand," Williams said. "I was really proud of myself to get that far. I don't think I played well at the French, but she did and was really focused. It's just a new start for me. "

Today's other quarter-final in the top half of the draw promises another heavyweight confrontation, with Jelena Jankovic, the world No 3, meeting Venus Williams. In their fourth-round matches on Sunday night Williams crushed a pallid Ana Ivanovic while Jankovic survived a wobble to beat Sybille Bammer.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion here, beat Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, for the loss of only five games yesterday and now faces the 18-year-old Hungarian, Agnes Szavay, who put out Julia Vakulenko. The last quarter-final will see Shahar Peer, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska, take on Anna Chakvetadze or Tamira Paszek.

Andy Roddick became the first player to book a place in the men's quarter-finals after Tomas Berdych retired hurt when trailing by a set and 2-0. The American meets the winner of yesterday's night match between Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez.

In the other quarter-final in the top half of the draw Tommy Haas, a five-set winner over James Blake, will take on Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Hyung-Taik Lee, Andy Murray's conqueror.

Interesting? Click here to explore further