No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to Nadia Petrova, who went into the match after a stunning, 6-0, 6-1 third-round victory over U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters.
While the seeded players dropped, former No. 1 Justine Henin continued her run in her first Grand Slam tournament in two years with a 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3 win over fellow Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, keeping her on track for a quarterfinal meeting with Petrova.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here"Today was similar. I felt like my motivation, my concentration was on the same level," said Petrova, comparing her wins over Clijsters and French Open champion Kuznetsova. The 27-year-old Russian doesn't think she's reached her potential yet — her best runs in the majors finishing in semifinal losses.
"I know there's still a lot to accomplish," Petrova said. "That's what I'm really looking for."
Safina, the 2009 Australian finalist who held the No. 1 ranking despite never winning a major, limped off when facing set point against Kirilenko when a back problem flared up.
"It was getting worse and worse, I have no idea how it happened. It was really terrible," said Safina, who saw her season last year end prematurely because of a back problem. "I turned to my coach and I said I cannot move anymore. It's shocking."
In an afternoon match at Hisense, 2008 Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie set another national mark by becoming the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory over Alona Bondarenko. She next plays Kirilenko.
Henin, who is unranked and playing on a wild-card entry in her second tournament since returning from a 20-month retirement, told the crowd she'd missed tennis too much to resist a comeback.
"It's been great moment for myself," Henin said. "It's a great feeling to be back, been a great fight and thank you."
The seven-time Grand Slam winner dominated the first-set tiebreaker after saving three set points in the 12th game. After dropping the second set, Henin broke Wickmayer's serve to open the deciding third set and was on top after that.
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