Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo will meet in Friday’s quarterfinals here. Mauresmo is 8-5 in their lifetime series, but the Russian won their last meeting in Stuttgart last season. I am really excited to have a chance to see them here. I also really wanted to see Chakvetadze play, but she already lost her second round match.

Don’t forget to check out Amelie Mauresmo’s Luxembourg blog.  The 2008 Luxembourg titlist will make $35,000.

AP has a story about how athletes are struggling on what position to take about the upcoming Beijing Olympics controversy.

Here is what some top tennis stars are thinking.

Roger Federer

Asked if he would wear a ribbon for Tibet or boycott the opening ceremony, top-ranked tennis star Roger Federer said: “No, not so far. I don’t think I will.”

“Honestly, I don’t know enough about the situation. I don’t know how much we athletes should be involved in this,” said Federer, of Switzerland. “It should be a celebration of sport and not using it for political reasons.”

C’mon Roger. You traveled the world. You pride yourself on being an open-minded person who enjoys learning about other cultures. Now all of a sudden you become modest about your knowledge on these issues.

James Blake

Fellow player James Blake believes any protest should not be an individual call.

“I don’t feel like it’s my decision to go and say, ‘I know what’s best for the entire country of China, I know what’s best for the entire Olympic team,’” the American said. “I think it should be a joint decision, kind of all-for-one decision, whether every Olympic team boycotts or we all go and we represent our country with pride.”

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Eighth seeded Russian Elena Dementieva came a set down to beat the third-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 in quarterfinal action at the $1.5 million Dubai Tennis Championships. However, the major upset of the day was Number one see Justine Henin’s loss to unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 7-6 (7-3) and 7-6 (7-4). Svetlana Kuznetsova also reached the semi-finals after beating France’s Amelie Mauresmo and will play fourth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic who had an “easy” victory when sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze retired with an injury after losing the first set. 

Not a “fan-favorite” day in Zurich Open.

French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo, who I like very much, was upset by unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko in the second round of the Zurich Open.

World number four Ana Ivanovic also suffered a shock 6-3 6-1 defeat to Tatiana Golovin from France.

Another fan favorite Jelena Jankovic, seeded third in Zurich, was defeated in straight sets 6-4 6-4 by Czech Nicole Vaidisova.

Recent Kremlin Cup champion Elena Dementieva forced to retire with an injured left thigh after trailing Italian Francesca Schiavone. Dementieva’s withdrawal ended any chance the Russian had of qualifying for the season-ending WTA Championship in Madrid, Spain.

On Tuesday Serena Williams retired with a right adductor injury after losing the first nine games to Swiss Patty Schnyder.

Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic and Serena Williams have qualified for the WTA tournament on Nov. 6-11. Five other players are still eligible for the remaining three spots.

(Source: Reuters, Zurich Open)