Women's 2nd Marquee Matchup: Australian Open Quarterfinals

We've arrived at our second Women's Marquee Matchup of the Australian Open and this one has 'classic' written all over it. No. 1 seed Justine Henin puts her 32-match win streak on the line as she takes on Maria "Shriek"apova under the lights of Rod Laver Arena for a place in the semifinals.

Though she was broken while serving to close out her 4th round match, the World No. 1 was never in any real trouble against Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-Wei, winning 6-2, 6-2. Maria was more impressive in her match, destroying 2-time Grand Slam finalist Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-0 in 62 minutes. The last time these players met was in the classic final of last season's Sony Ericsson WTA Championships in Madrid, with Justine sneaking out a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory - the longest match in the Championship's history.

Here's what Justine had to say about facing Maria:

"I always know to beat her I have to be at my best. She's a real fighter. She never gives up. Very talented. She's a champion. So I know that against her I will have to be a hundred percent all the time."

Maria had this to say about facing the Belgian:

"Justine's the one to beat, [...] She's on a pretty good winning streak, but every match is new. [...] The one in Madrid was tough but physically she got me in the end -- she was tougher than I was in the end. But I had many chances and I was very close to winning."

Their strengths are clear: Justine has the mobility, versatility, and court-craft while Maria possesses bludgeoning power from the baseline. There's also no mystery between these two - they know each other's games well. Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog is giving the edge to Justine, but Maria has been the sharper player. We think the Russian will play first-strike tennis, rocket her groundies to the corners, and take balls out of the air - which is the only was she'll win. And we think she will...in 3 sets.

(images via Clive Brunskill & Rob Griffith/AP)

Women's 2nd Marquee Matchup: US Open Quarterfinals

Let's do this: Here's THE matchup every tennis fan was hoping would come to be...and now it's here once again. Our second Women's Marquee Matchup features World No. 1 Justine Henin taking on 8-time Grand Slam champion Serena "ReRe" Williams in what we hope will be a classic quarterfinal under the lights at the US Open.

Justine, playing her first night match at the Open, completely dismantled Russian headcase Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-2 in a 59 minutes 4th round match. ReRe was challenged a bit more but still had too much game and dismissed the struggling Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4. The last time these players met was, of course, their Marquee Matchup at Wimbledon with the Belgian besting the injured ReRe for the first time off clay. Moreover, this win was the second in a row for Justine over ReRe in a Grand Slam (Justine won their quarterfinal at the French Open this year as well.)

Here's what Justine had to say about her rivalry with ReRe:
"Well, I think it's important these contests because we all ‑‑ finally we all help each other to be better. And when you feel another player is playing well you just want to be better. That's great. That's the way I felt when I was with Kim on the tour. Kim and I helped each other a lot. I like this contests, and there's a lot of respect now and everything is fine. So that's very important, too."

ReRe had this to say about their rivalry:
"[...] she's playing well and she's fighting for everything. She kind of believes that she can win, and maybe that's what makes that special."

Bud Collins for MSNBC.com gives the edge to ReRe this time around since beating her 3 times consecutively and in Grand Slams is a huge task. We're torn over here at Down the Line! but think ReRe will also come out on top this time around.