Last week, Venus Williams had fallen just a point short of upsetting a fellow major champion in Petra Kvitova.  This week, she made sure to finish what she started as she dispatched another fellow major champion in Ana Ivanovic.  The loss reversed the result of the Auckland final in early January, when Ivanovic had defeated Venus in three sets.

Outside the month of January, however, the Serb never has defeated either of the Williams sisters.  Venus extended her lead in this matchup to 9-2 on Wednesday by surrendering just three games.  Although her first-serve percentage languished at a dismal 44%, she won every point played on her first serve.  Venus also ravaged Ivanovic's modest second serve while protecting her own more successfully.  That proved to be the key in a 57-minute rout that she dominated in every category. 

Up next for Venus is a rendezvous with a former nemesis.  Flavia Pennetta has won four of their seven previous meetings, including two on outdoor hard courts.  The Italian veteran will turn 32 next week, but she has produced some of her most impressive results over the last 12 months.  Reaching the second week at each of the last three majors, Pennetta recorded her first major semifinal at the US Open last fall.  A quarterfinal at the Australian Open preceded a startling upset today over world No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.  While Radwanska has lacked her usual consistency so far in 2014, Pennetta played with poise on key points.  Denying Radwanska six of eight break opportunities, she converted six of the nine that she received in a routine victory.

The Polish second seed was not the only notable name to fall on a busy Wednesday in Dubai.  World No. 6 Petra Kvitova looked headed for the quarterfinals in uneventful fashion when she led Carla Suarez Navarro by a set and a break.  At 6-1 4-3, however, Kvitova lost the plot and the next three games to find herself in yet another final set.  The Czech has played far more final sets over the last two years than anyone else in the top 10.  While she has grown accustomed to that position, it can challenge her questionable fitness and focus. 

By contrast, Suarez Navarro has specialized in winning epics throughout her career.  Never has she lost a match that reached 6-6 in the final set, and she ran her record in that category to 7-0 today when the third set reached a tiebreak.  Kvitova led by 3-1 and 4-2 in the decisive tiebreak, only to drop five straight points and the match.  The 2011 Wimbledon champion remains a frustrating enigma, and Suarez Navarro confirmed her reputation as a dangerous dark horse with the capacity to trouble most elite opponents.