Australian Stosur enjoying her best run at Open

It's taken a while for Samantha Stosur to show up on the radar. It wasn't because she was trying to be stealthy. It was more about being healthy.

In 2007, in what should have been the beginning of her prime, Stosur came down with Lyme disease. She missed parts of the season, a crucial setback in the development of a player.

It's now 2010 and a healthy Stosur isn't being stealthy at the U.S. Open. She beat Sara Errani, 6-2, 6-3, Friday to set up a fourth-round matchup with Elena Dementieva. Stosur has never been past the second round of the Open, and previous to this year, had made only the fourth round of a major once.

The 26-year-old Australian is having the best season of her life. She made her first major singles final at Roland Garros by defeating Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic, losing to Francesca Schiavone for the title. She also won at Charleston and reached the quarterfinals or semifinals in seven tournaments.

This is her best chance to contend in the Open.

"Yeah, why not?" she said when asked if she could contend here. "I've never been past the second round here, so now to be in the fourth round is a big jump . . . I never had a good U.S. Open . . . So I think I'm playing well and hitting the ball well. I think I have a good chance."

Next up for her is the always pesky Dementieva, who beat Daniela Hantuchova, 7-5, 6-2. Dementieva holds a career advantage over Stosur, but she's been a bit on the downturn this season while Stosur reached a career-high ranking of No. 5.

"We haven't played in a long time and Samantha really improved her game a lot," Dementieva said. "She's a very solid player with a huge serve."

Also advancing was defending champion Kim Clijsters, who started off going down 3-0 to Petra Kvitova with two breaks of serve, then didn't lose another game. Clijsters won, 6-3, 6-0. The victory sets up a round of 16 match with Ana Ivanovic, who scored a convincing 7-5, 6-0 win over Virginie Razzano.

"I followed her very closely when I wasn't playing and saw her win the French Open [in 2008] and kind of from there just lost it a little bit," Clijsters said of Ivanovic. "I'm happy to see her doing well again."

Venus Williams advanced in the night match, beating Mandy Minella, 6-2, 6-1.