With a lot of tennis going on today, this reporter found himself roaming from court to court. So here is some of the action from today's matches.

Meghann Shaughnessy (#8) vs. Nadejda Petrova (Q) (2nd Round)
First Meeting

I joined this match late in the first set with the players on serve with Petrova at 5-4. Within in moments, the Russian Petrova displayed to the crowd how seriously she takes this game of tennis. Believing a Shaughnessy serve was a let, Petrova had a pointed discussion with the chair umpire. "It was a let, didn't you hear it?" Petrova proclaimed. When she received a negative response, the Russian went on to add "Well, get someone down here to sit at the net. I am fighting for every point here and I do not want to give away any free points." To add to the proverbial "adding insult to injury," Shaughnessy served an ace on the next point. The players hung tough to set up a first set tiebreak. So let the traditional On The Line tiebreak analysis begin:

P: Strong serve from Petrova sends Shaughnessy's forehand reply wide, Petrova 1-0.
S: A deep Petrova sends a Shaughnessy backhand into the net, Petrova 2-0.
S: A 10+ shot hard-hitting rally, Petrova's backhand long, Petrova 2-1.
P: Shaughnessy forehand goes long and the American smashed her racquet loudly into the canvas backdrop, Petrova 3-1.
P: Forehand service return winner for Shaughnessy, Petrova 3-2.
S: Another long rally ends with a Shaughnessy forehand into the net, Petrova 4-2.
S: Backhand goes long from Petrova, Petrova 4-3.
P: Shaughnessy sends a forehand long in reply to a very deep forehand from Petrova, Petrova 5-3.
P: A Petrova backhand crosscourt shot goes wide, Petrova 5-4.
S: Forehand wide for Shaughnessy gives Petrova her first set point, Petrova 6-4.
S: Ace from Shaughnessy, Petrova 6-5.
P: Yet another competitive hard fought rally, Petrova nets a forehand, 6-6.
P: Shaughnessy mixes up her shots in a rally and elicits a long forehand from Petrova, Shaughnessy 7-6.
S: Double fault from Shaughnessy, 7-7.
S: A Petrova forehand lands in the net, Shaughnessy 8-7.
P: Petrova sends a back hand long, Shaughnessy wins the tie break and set, 9-7.

The partisan crowd clearly helped their fellow Arizonan through her tiebreak victory. Both players are in the "hard hitting" realm of players with not a whole lot of finesse and/or variety clearly evident in their play. Shaughnessy went on to win the second set (and the match) 6-3. This sets up a quarterfinal match-up with her doubles partner here at the State Farm, Kim Clijsters. Clijsters persevered in three sets 5-7, 6-2, 6- 3 over wildcard Jennifer Hopkins.

Elena Likhovtseva (#9) vs. Tina Pisnik (Q) (2nd Round)
Likhovtseva leads the series 1-0 (1999 US Open - 2nd Round - 6-2, 6-3)

In a somewhat ironic twist to this match, these players only met in the second round thanks to Mary Pierce's late withdrawal from the tournament. With the draw being re-shuffled, Likhovtseva became the #9 seed and Pisnik moved into Likhovtseva's original position in the draw. This match was deadlocked at 6-6 yesterday prior to the skies opening to the rain. So the players started their match with the tiebreak, which Pisnik won 7-3. The Russian Likhovtseva, eschewing the traditional tennis skirt for a pair of butt- hugging shorts, was nonplussed and came back strongly to take the second set 6-1. Thanks to the tennis gods, this reporter was able to return to this match as the players were about to start the decisive final set tiebreak.

L: Likhovtseva send a high forehand volley into the net, Pisnik 1-0.
P: On the 12th shot of rally, Pisnik hits a net cord, with the ball literally rolling down the net onto Lihovtseva's side. Pisnik eschews the traditional "sorry" hand signal, by dropping her racquet and raising and shaking both fists into the air, Pisnik 2-0.
P: Pisnik lobs Likhovtseva at the net, Likhovtseva's weak defensive lob gives Pisnik an easy backhand volley put away. Pisnik fist pumping continues, Pisnik 3-0.
L: A smash by Likhovtseva to a short and high reply from Pisnik, Pisnik 3-1.
L: Pisnik drop shots, Likhovtseva gets to it, Pisnik dinks a crosscourt back, the Russian nets her shot, Pisnik 4-1.
P: Backhand pass down the line from Pisnik, Pisnik 5-1.
P: 89mph Ace sets up first match point, Pisnik 6-1.
L: Both players hitting deep to baseline, Likhovtseva smashes a weak and high reply, Pisnik 6-2.
L: A defensive lob by Pisnik floats long, Pisnik 6-3.
P: Likhovtseva nets a Pisnik serve, Pisnik 7-3.

The 20-year old Slovenian (pictured above) dropped to her knees and clenched her fists after the winning point. Pisnik is both feisty in her appearance and her playing style. Pisnik boasts two tattoos (well at least those we can see) on her right shoulder and left ankle and really has a wide variety of shots. Not merely a hard hitter, Pisnik has a mean slice backhand and her forehand topspin was successful at keeping Likhovtseva pinned behind the baseline. The 2000 Bol champion notched one of her bigger career victories and will be the "Cinderella" as the only qualifier to advance to the quarterfinals. Her task is a hefty one as she meets the 2001 Australian Open champion, Jennifer Capriati, who had a fairly easy win (6- 2, 6-4) over lucky loser Jana Nejedly. Capriati is clearly in a confident mood after her first Grand Slam title saying she has "no reason not to be." The players got a preview of each other's games today as they met in a doubles match this afternoon. Much to the disappointment of fans of the wildly popular American duo, Capriati/Seles lost to Pisnik/Hrdlickova in two tiebreak sets.

Monica Seles (#2) vs. Cara Black (2nd Round)
Seles lead series 1-0 (2000 Stanford - Quarterfinals - 6-1, 6-2, Hard)

Based on their previous meeting, one did not give Black much chances in this match. And from the start it appeard that the Zimbabwean would have a tough time matching the three games she won against Seles in their only previous hard-court meeting in Stanford. In what seemed like mere moments, Seles was up 4-0 and two service breaks. Black was further discouraged that she could not even earn a break point when Seles through in two double faults in the fifth game of the set. Two Black double faults in the next game, earned Seles a "bagel" in a mere 22 minutes. The players received mild applause from one of the larger crowds of the tournament who were hoping for a little more of a match.

Black regrouped somewhat in the second set and earned the traditional crowd ovation when she struggled but eventually held serve in her first service game of the second set. The next two service games for Black were impeccable and won at love. The waif-like Black had chances to break Seles in the fifth game going up 0-40, but unforced errors allowed Seles to keep her perfect service game record intact. On her first break point of the set, Seles broke Black for a 5-3 and served out the match for a 6-0, 6-3 victory in just under an hour.

Once again, flowers awaited Seles after the match and before leaving the court she stopped by to visit her mother Esther as well as her Yorkshire Terrier, Ariel. In her typically modest way, Seles shyly waved and smiled to the crowds the lined up to watch her be whisked away via golf cart. Seles next meets Spaniard Magui Serna in the quarterfinals. Serna was a three-set winner over American Kristina Brandi this afternoon.

"Skirt"-ing the Issue: Part Three

The skirt that will not die returns to today's State Farm report. Today's model is American Lilia Osterloh. In all versions that we have seen this week, Osterloh seems to have the ensemble with a matching top in its most visually pleasing form. Osterloh's appearance in the Nike skirt was actually a double dose of this colorful bottom that day as she was teaming up in doubles with Alexandra Stevenson who we showed you on Tuesday.

As promised, we have more details on this very popular item of clothing at Scottsdale this year. It is officially dubbed by Nike as the "Dri-Fit Power Skirt." It comes in a variety of solid colors including white and black, but this exotic combo is officially known as "Viola/Samba." Will the "Power Skirt" be back tomorrow? Stay tuned!