US OPEN PREVIEW: 1st Women's Marquee Matchup

The US Open is beginning to heat up and we like it. Here we have our first Women's Marquee Matchup, though we wish these two high-profile players were meeting later on in the tournament. Regardless, this is definitely a "popcorn" match in our books. Let's take a look:

Venus "V" Williams played her second night match and wasted No. 21 seed Alona Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2 in under an hour. World No. 5 Ana Ivanovic continued her march through the draw, blasting Russian Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-3. The last time these players met was last month in the semifinals of Wimbledon, where V easily handled the Serb 6-2, 6-4 with her rocket returns and superior movement. However, Ana is a different player already and is feeling prepared to challenge the Wimbledon champion this time around.

Here's what V had to say about Ana:
"She's definitely a good player, great competitor, and a nice person. It's good to see good things happening for her."

Ana had this to say about playing V:
"We had tough matches before. Last one was in Wimbledon recently. She was in a great shape. She's also playing good at the moment. We had tough matches, but definitely I think I have chances. I'm looking forward to that match because I think I'm in a good shape. I feel good on the court. It will be exciting to play against her."

Matthew Cronin for FOXSports.com is calling this match a defacto final and isn't quite ready to pencil V into the quarterfinals, and neither are we. The hardcourt surface is a great equalizer in the movement category, so V won't necessarily have that advantage like she did on grass.

Venus vs. Ana: tell us who you think will move on to the quarterfinals!