By Nick Georgandis
TennisNow.com
© Mark Peterson/Corleve, Tony Chang/Chang Photography

Without playing a single practice match to start the year, Agnieszka Radwanska continued her sensational return from October foot surgery, fighting off two match points to defeat Shuai Peng 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, and advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second time.

"The worst thing for a player is to miss a Grand Slam," Radawanska said of her decision to play the Open despite no warm-ups. "I didn't want to watch the Australian Open from home on TV."

In October, her doctor told the 21-year-old that she wouldn't be able to return until the Miami Open in late March and told her she had a one percent chance of playing at Australia.

She responded, "If you give me a one percent change to play in January, I'm going to play."

In bed for three weeks and on crutches for a further five, Radawanska did not even begin running in practice until December 20, just 28 days before the tournament began.

Vera Zvonareva def. Iveta Benesova, 6-4, 6-1

Falling behind 4-2 in the first set, Vera Zvonareva looked like her streak of back-to-back Grand Slam finals was approaching an end Monday against Iveta Benesova. But that was before Zvonareva broke her opponent, then won again, and again, and again.

Down 2-4 in the first, Zvonareva won 10 of the match's final 11 games to take a 6-4, 6-1 win and move on to the Australian Open quarterfinals where she will face Petra Kvitova on Wednesday.

"She was able to go 4-2 up in the first set, I thought I was a little bit slow, a little bit passive," Zvonareva said. "But then I was able to find the right momentum, stay a little bit more aggressive till the end of the match, and I'm really happy about that."

Ranked No. 2 in the world, Zvonareva connected on 70 percent of her first serves, broke her opponent five times in seven opportunities and was 16-of-22 on net approaches to take the win.

Petra Kvitova (25) def. Flavia Pennetta (22) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

In a matchup of unexpected combatants, Petra Kvitova kept her Cinderella run going while reducing Flavia Pennetta's coach back into a pumpkin Monday with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win in the Australian Open fourth round.

A round after upsetting Samantha Stosur, Kvitova fell behind early, but surged late to score the victory. "I was very nervous int he first set, I thought that it will be fighting, and it was, so I just wanted to try for just focus on each point," Kvitova said.

After losing to Pennetta three of their last four times playing, Kvitova won despite making twice as many errors, by hitting a ton of winners, 46 compared to Pennetta's 16, and succeeding at the net.

For her trouble, Kvitova will take on world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Kvitova had the perfect remedy for relaxing before the match, however.

"I have to get some massage and treatment from the physios, and just lie to bed, because I'm so tired," she said.

Kim Clijsters (3) def. Ekaterina Makarova 7-6, 6-2

It was well past daughter Jada's bed time when Kim Clijsters turned out the lights on Ekaterina Makarova 7-6, 6-2 to advance to the Australian Open quarterfinals for the sixth time.

The left-handed Makarova upset 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova, the woman who crushed Clijsters in last year's third round.

The third-seeded Clijsters continues to successfully juggle the demands of motherhood and the pro tour and says her secret isn't a cape - it's support from her team.

"I'm not Superwoman," Clijsters said. "Look, I probably have the fullest box of anyone. I have a nanny, a great team around me. We are all a great bunch of friends and we take it as a great adventure, ever since I came back. I hope I can make it continue for a while longer."

Next up for Clijsters is Agnieszka Radwanska, who saved match points in fighting off China's Shuai Peng. Foot surgery sidelined Radwanska in forcing her to pull the plug on her 2010 season.