Oudin must have put in some horrifying practice sessions this week for U.S. Fed Cup Captain Mary Joe Fernandez to make that decision.

They joined Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Melanie Oudin who made it into the quarters on Wednesday. Mattek-Sands is a grinder mostly known for her knee-high socks, and Oudin with her small-ball game has seemingly already had her 15 minutes of fame last year at the US Open.

“I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring,” Azarenka said. “I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy.”

Oudin will next face No. 29 seed Alona Bondarenko, who defeated Vera Dushevina 6-0, 5-7, 6-4.

The men’s side of the draw is without injured champion Juan Martin del Potro, but 2009 runner-up Roger Federer is announcing his intentions, and will open Monday against Argentina’s Brian Dabul.

Wozniacki will open against the winner of Oudin and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; (7) Pennetta a tough start against Kleybanova; the French Open champ (3) Schiavone starts against former No. 1 (WC) Safina; (2) Stosur will likely start against the tough Zheng; tournament started in 1948 as the U.S. Women’s Hardcourt Championships; Wozniacki is the two-time defending champion.

Andy Roddick’s early-round exit in Washington dropped him out of the Top 10, making for the FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE RANKINGS there are no American’s in the Top 10. RIP, U.S. tennis, we were big fans back in the day…

The sadly-slowing American drumbeat goes on this week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open. World No. 1 Serena Williams is sidelined with a cut foot, and elder sister Venus is out with a tweaked knee. No Americans are seeded, and only one American, Melanie Oudin, got directly into the main draw via her ranking (barely).

Loaded non-seeded field with former No. 1s Ivanovic and Safina, and former No. 2 Kuznetsova unseeded; first-round match-ups of interest are (6) Bartoli vs. Hantuchova, (7) Peer vs. (WC) Ivanovic, (8) Wickmayer vs. Kuznetsova, and potential second-round match-ups after seeded byes (1) Jankovic vs. Rezai and Stosur vs. Azarenka or Oudin

The elder Williams sister drew whistles and cat-calls from the French fans when she took to the court in a dress of her own design, resembling a black nightie with red lace trim.