Neither Frenchman had been past the fourth round at the US Open and when they squared off against each other on the Louis Armstrong stadium, one of them had to break the 2-2 head to head deadlock to acquire the pleasant taste of a quarter-final at Flushing Meadows. A large gathering of spectators made an early trip to take in the joy of this promising contest. Pascal Maria, another Frenchman may have had a tough time refraining from calling the match in French seated in the referee's chair. It was as if two French artists stepped on Broadway to exhibit renaissance art. Gael Monfils stole the show with his nimble feet nibbling at the court to defeat his countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 and emerge the last Frenchman standing in the last eight. Novak Djokovic crushed Mardy Fish's mid-summer's American dream in a one sided 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 thrashing - the Serb making the last eight at all the Grand Slam events this year, for the first time in his career. Robin Soderling recovered from a first set loss to beat Spaniard Albert Montanes in four to book his place in the last eight opposite 5-time champion Roger Federer, who came through unscathed in a highly competitive three-set contest with Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Richard Gasquet saved a couple of breakpoints in the third game of the match, but served a double fault on the third to gift the early advantage to Gael Monfils. The 17th seed carried the one game advantage to wrap up the first set. In the second, Gasquet held serve in the third game; after a long duel that could only be resolved after six deuce points, to stay in touch in the set at 2-1 albeit down by a break. When the 38th ranked Gasquet won a 33 shot rally in the ninth game, it showed how important it was for him to win the second set. But then Monfils excited the crowd by pulling off an absolutely stunning forehand winner to earn a crucial breakpoint in the eleventh game. Riding the momentum, Monfils closed out the set on his serve. It was a closely contested set - and even though the statistics for the set had Gasquet ahead on many counts, being 18-12 on unforced errors did not help his cause one bit.

The cameras were lighting up at a frenetic pace as the two stars showed off their wares to a suitably pleased audience who packed themselves into Arthur Ashe Stadium to witness the most glamorous contest in recent memory. Mind you, it wasn't just glitz and glamour - Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki are women of purpose, intent on making a mark with their talent on the tennis court. The top seeded Dane emerged victorious 6-3, 6-4 in this most anticipated battle; after a hot contest that lasted seven minutes short of two hours. The ever improving Estonian Kaia Kanepi showed remarkable belief to overturn the tide that almost sunk her against the 2009 semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer. The Belgian handed Kanepi a bagel to begin with, but Kanepi reversed the trend to win 0-6, 7-6(2), 6-1 to make her third quarter-final appearance at a grand slam event.

Sharapova came out firing on all cylinders, taking the game to her younger opponent with some attacking tennis. Wozniacki though is the woman in form right now - she showed exceptional court coverage and defensive skills forcing Sharapova into long rallies that often ended with the Russian making an error. In the end Sharapova's 36 unforced errors against just 10 for the Dane were a definitive ingredient in tipping the scales in favour of Wozniacki. Maria also did not do herself justice, throwing in a whopping nine double faults besides converting just one of the nine opportunities she had to break the top seed's serve.

Day eight at the US Open provides a sumptuous feast. Even the most indifferent of tennis fans will take note of a line up which boasts of sublime Swiss maestro Roger Federer, former champion Maria Sharapova, contender par excellence Novak Djokovic and women's top seed and last year's finalist Caroline Wozniacki. The line up is the best seen in the Open so far and spectators are in for a sure treat.

The match of the day without a doubt would be between Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. The contest which will match up piece by piece in terms of glamour, intensity, personal pride and power, will hopefully retain all the excitement it had invited when the draw was declared. The 2006 champion and global superstar Sharapova is seeing a much needed resurgence with her body holding up to the demands of the long drawn hard court summer, while the Dane, world number two is showing ruthlessness against every combatant  and rode to two titles during the summer and the top spot in the US Open Series rankings. The winner of this match will be a contender for the title and it would be a surprise if neither makes it to Super Saturday.

The 2010 US Open lost its first genuine title hope on Sunday as Swiss no.2 Stanislas Wawrinka stunned Andy Murray of Scotland in four lopsided sets 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-3. Murray, who had picked up the Toronto Masters title earlier this summer, was seen as one of the major contenders for a place in next Sunday's final, but ended up falling to his former practice partner Wawrinka. The Spanish Armada meanwhile continued to power forward into the second week at New York with Rafael Nadal leading four other Spaniards into the last 16 on Sunday. The Americans in the men's draw whittled down to 2 as John Isner fell to Mikhail Youzhny in four very competitive sets. His good friend and doubles partner Sam Querrey had a relatively easier time against Nicolas Almagro.

Wawrinka, the no.25 seed, has spent a decade under the massive shadow of compatriot Roger Federer, yet continues to remind the fans of his prodigious talent by producing some breathtaking tennis on occasions. Down a set and a break, the Swiss picked up his game considerably in the latter half of the second set to force it into a second consecutive tiebreak. Despite serving at an abysmal 41% and getting creamed on his second serve as a result of it, Wawrinka managed to put together enough points when it really mattered and levelled the match at a set a piece.