Pennetta saves six match points to stop Zvonareva

World number 10 Flavia Pennetta saved six match points and advanced to her second successive US Open quarter-final with a 3-6, 7-6, 6-0 victory over Russian seventh seed Vera Zvonareva on Sunday.

The 27-year-old Pennetta, the first Italian woman to crack the top 10, was on the ropes for much of the 81-minute second set before winning the tiebreaker 8-6.

Zvonareva, 24, unravelled in the final set, falling in 33 minutes to lose for the second time to Pennetta in three career meetings.

Pennetta, seeded 10th, will next face number two seed and three-times champion Serena Williams.

"Serena is one of the best players in the world," Pennetta said in a courtside interview.

"She's unbelievable. I'll have to play my best tennis to beat her."

Vera Zvonareva gave in when it mattered the most.

The Russian failed to control her emotions after dropping a tight second set. 

She was subsequently seen hitting the net with her racket, angrily tearing at a loose bandage on her knee, and even hitting her own leg with her hand. But what she failed to hit was winners in the third set.

The final scoreline, 3-6, 7-7, 6-0, in Pennetta's favour, is self-explanatory.

Zvonareva, the seventh seed, had six match points in the second set but failed to convert any.

It was her second loss in three meetings against the Italian.

Second seed Andy Murray blunted the big serve of American Taylor Dent to post a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory to reach the fourth round.

The Scotsman allowed the hard-hitting Dent only two 145 mile-per-hour (233.3 kph) aces, getting everything else back into the court and taking advantage of his superior all-around skills to win in a brisk 90 minutes on a chilly night.

Murray belted seven aces himself among 39 winners and faced only two break points in bringing the day seven program to a close.

The 22-year-old Briton, runner-up last year to Roger Federer, will face 16th seed Marin Cilic of Croatia for a berth in the quarter-finals.

More than 23,000 concerned pair of eyes on Arthur Ashe Stadium zoomed in on Rafael Nadal's stomach on Sunday as he lay flat on his back with his canary yellow shirt pulled up to his chest.

With a white towel covering his face, there was no way to guess the pain or the torment Nadal was going through as it seemed his injury jinx had struck again during his third-round match against childhood friend Nicolas Almagro.

While the Spaniard shielded himself from peering eyes, a tournament trainer went about his business by quickly spraying and taping Nadal's stomach during the three-minute medical time out the third seed is allowed to take.

Job done, Nadal got back on the feet but over the next few minutes it became clear that this latest setback was one the six-times grand slam champion could have done without.

After resuming the third set at 2-1 down, Nadal grimaced on several occasions as he poked the afflicted area between points but hung on to beat fellow Spaniard Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

Match over, there was only one topic tennis followers wanted to discuss.

Well, all tennis followers except Nadal.

"I know everybody want to talk about the injury. I really don't want to talk about that. That's the thing," said the world number three, who was sidelined during June and July with tendinitis in both knees.

Not satisfied with the Spaniard's answer, he was prodded again for an explanation but politely replied: "I said I don't want to talk about injuries. Sorry. I am a little bit tired to talk about injuries.

"I am here to try my best every day. I won the match in three sets, so happy for that. I'm going to try my best next round. That's all."

China's Li Na played her "A" game to advance to the quarter-finals and said she dreamed of becoming the first Chinese to win a grand slam singles title.

"I think serve, return, baseline, volley, everything was fantastic today," Li told reporters after her 6-2, 6-3 fourth-round victory over Francesca Schiavone of Italy in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The sublime victory lifted Li to her first Flushing Meadows appearance in the last eight after twice previously getting as far as the fourth round.

"This was my dream," said the 27-year-old Li.

"Four rounds already, it's a half-tournament. I hope I can win another three matches. I know it's tough."

Li, who reached the quarters of Wimbledon in 2006, will face 2005 champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium for a berth in the final four at the National Tennis Center.

Li said she was not worried about who she would face.

"Just relax today and take totally off tomorrow and be ready for the day after tomorrow," she said about her plans.