Hello and welcome to this quarter-finals clash between third seed Venus Williams and Italian sixth seed Francesca Schiavone

So that's Venus through to the last four of the US Open where she will face either defending champion Kim Clijsters or Australian fifth seed Sam Stosur, who are up next

WINNER! Venus earns herself a match point after pushing Schiavone deep behind the baseline with a foray into the net before tracking back for a defensive lob that ends up dropping long. And one match point is all that it takes as another defensive forehand drops long from Schiavone

BREAK! Venus dives around the net, finding a forehand volley at full stretch, but Schiavone comes up with a backhand passing shot winner across the other side of the court the Italian has two more break back points. And an absolutely woeful double fault (the second serve missed the baseline even) means we are back on serve once again. Schiavone will still have to serve to stay in this match though

BREAK! Venus will serve for a place in the semi-finals as she grabs the break back when the Schiavone backhand breaks down and the ball ends up in the net

BREAK! Venus saves a first break when Schiavone hits a backhand into the net and a second when Schiavone's backhand volley isn't enough to stop Venus on the passing shot. But the Italian does go on to break back when Venus's backhand drops into the net

Schiavone holds to keep the deficit down to just the one break but the unforced errors to winners ratio is still to much weighted in the wrong way. The Italian has hit 20 errors to just 15 winners, while Venus as 27 errors to 22 winners (still the wrong way round but at least a little more even)

Some more big serving from Venus as she holds to consolidate the break with an ace down the centre of the court. And that's a big lead for the American as she is potentially just two games away from the semi-finals

BREAK! Schiavone saves a break point with a great second serve that Venus cannot return in court but the American earns herself a second chance with a stunning return across court that lands right in the corner. And the Italian goes on to give away her serve with a cross court forehand that she drills well into the tramlines

Williams has reverted back to taking an age between points once again as they going gets tough in one of her service games. But it seems work for her as she holds from deuce with a heavy first serve down the centre of the court that Schiavone can only return into the net

Sure enough, Schiavone posts a comfortable service hold with her first ace of the set to level up early in this second set

Venus opens with a service hold to 15 after pinning Schiavone to the baseline and eventually forcing the backhand error, into the net, from the Italian. Venus is looking pretty in control now although if Schiavone can hold her serve, who knows

SET! Schiavone is furious with herself as another forehand drops long of the baseline and that has cost her the first set in an hour and four minutes

Schiavone does well to level up at 5-5 with another stunning volley, this time a forehand stop villey that she dinks just over the net and the Italian is really getting fired up not. But a sliced forehand that lands long of the baseline hands Venus her first set point

Venus races out to a 4-0 lead in this break with a backhand passing shot winner after a poor volley from Schiavone. The Italian gets a point on the board when Venus hits a forehand into the net, before an absolutely stunning inside out, sliced backhand volley winner helps her get back to just the one mini-break down at the change of ends

A forehand return of serve long from Schiavone of a seriously big serve from Venus sees get herself out of a potentially tricky spot. And another big serve followed by a forehand volley winner, off Schiavone's blocked forehand return, sees Venus hold and force the tie-break

Schiavone looks to be haeding towards a love service hold before a backhand slice down the line drifts wide and Venus comes up with a forehand winner. But the Italian recovers when Venus sends a forehand approach shot long of the baseline. The American will have to serve to stay in this set for a second time

Venus holds to 15 to level up once again, sealing it with a forehand winner down the line after she had run around the ball. This set looks head for a tie-break!

A great first serve out wide that Venus can only into the net gets Schiavone out of a potentially dangerous position at 30-30 and the Italian goes on to hold with a sliced backhand causing all sorts of problems for Venus as she fires a foerhand long. The American will have to serve to stay in this first set after the change of ends

BREAK! We're back all square as Venus slaps down a double fault, already her third of the match, to hand Schiavone the break back and put things back on serve

A much better game from Schiavone as she hold to love. On the way she comes up with a cracking backhand slice down the line to draw Venus in before summarily dismissing the American's approach shot with a top-spin backhand drilled straight down the line