Nadia Petrova proved thrashing Kim Clijsters was no aberration by toppling her second grand slam champion in as many matches to move into serious contention at the Australian Open.
Petrova backed up her 6-0, 6-1 thumping of US Open champion Clijsters by knocking out third seed and French Open championSvetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 yesterday to move into the quarter-finals.
Kuznetsova said her fellow Russian and doubles partner was playing the best tennis she had seen for two years and the 19th seed could get even better as she moved into the second week.
"Umm, I think she might have been right," Petrova said after her second win over Kuznetsova in seven meetings. "It's not only that I'm playing well, but I think it's just the whole composure on the court, it's like one complete player, yes.
"I felt my motivation, my concentration was on the same level [as against Clijsters]. But today there were a little more unforced errors than against Kim.
"But I fought hard, I chased every single ball possible."
Kuznetsova said while she and Clijsters were not at their best, Petrova is into the last 16 on merit.
"You have to play well if you beat Kim 6-0, 6 1," she said. "For sure, Kim was not at her best level to lose like that. It's not only Nadia who played good, but definitely she's getting confidence and she's playing at her best level that I seen her lately. Definitely she can get much better."
Kuznetsova said she became frustrated after losing her serve early in the third set and gave Petrova too many points.
Petrova will play the winner of last night's all-Belgian match between Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer.
