No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva takes early lead in QF vs. No. 31 Kaia Kanepi

Singles play got a late start around 1:30 this afternoon as seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia seeks to avoid an upset against No. 31 Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Given Kanepi's last name, I'm going to give in to the temptation to call this the appetizer on the afternoon card in Arthur Ashe Stadium for a men's quarterfinal match between No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and No. 17 Gael Monfils of France.

This afternoon's women's quarterfinal matches two players coming off their best-ever performance in a Grand Slam. Kanepi reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, while Zvonareva went all the way to the finals, where she lost to Serena Williams, 6-3, 6-2. This also is the best U.S. Open showing for Zvonareva and Kanepi.

After Wimbledon, Kanepi chose to play a clay court tournament in Palermo. Coming just before the hardcourt season leading to the U.S. Open, it was an odd decision, but it turned out well for Kanepi, who won her first career WTA title by defeating Italian Flavia Pennetta. Kanepi didn't do much on hardcourts the rest of the summer until now.

Zvonareva, on the other hand, reached the final in Montreal, where she lost to No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The winner of this match advances to the semifinals to face the winner of tonight's women's quarterfinal between Wozniacki and unseeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. That match precedes the men's quarterfinal between No. 2 Roger Federer of Switzerland and No. 5 Robin Soderling of Sweden.

We'll keep you up to date with all the significant developments right here. Kanepi and Zvonareva each lost their first serve and Kanepi was just broken a second time and now trails, 4-2, before serving.