Serena Williams laments her poor play vs. Sybille Bammer in the third round of Cincinnati. But at least her nails match her outfit. Photo via d.yimg.com

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Both Williams sisters went down in straight sets Thursday in third round action in Cincinnati, as the players battling for the WTA #1 continue to say "no, you take it" at tournament after tournament.

Serena Williams fell to unseeded Sybille Bammer 7-5, 6-4, making error after error as the Austrian did little to earn the straight sets victory.

"I never played worse in my life," Serena said after the match.  Serena is certainly prone to hyperbole, but she's also not misdiagnosing her play by much.  It was excruciating tennis to watch.

The only good news about this loss for Serena is that the last time she lost to Bammer (Hobart 2007), she then went on to win her next tournament, a little event known as the Australian Open.  A disgusted Serena is more often than not a driven Serena.

Venus didn't play especially well either, but her play was a lot more excusable in her 7-6, 6-4 loss to Flavia Pennetta.  In Flavia Pennetta Venus faced an opponent who has won two straight titles (Palermo and Los Angeles), as well as three of her previous six matches against the American #2.  Pennetta did a tremendous job of hanging with Williams in long rally after long rally, eventually drawing an error or opening up the court for a down the line winner.

With her win, Pennetta becomes the first Italian woman to ever make it into the top ten.  It's a surprising milestone, considering how many Italian women have been near the top of the game before.  Both Silvia Farina Elia and Francesca Schiavone peaked at #11, a plateau Pennetta too had reached previously in February. The gap between #11 and #10 is pretty superficial, but it's still an important milestone for Pennetta, who is looking like a better and better bet to defend her US Open quarterfinal points from last year.  In the next round Pennetta faces Daniela Hantuchova, who prevailed in a bizarre match over Vera Zvonareva (more on that later).

In the matches not involving a Williams, Kim Clijsters was the big story, defeating #6 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to make the quarterfinal of her first tournament in over two years.  Her quarterfinal is against Dinara Safina, in a match that will say a lot where both players' games are right now.

Jelena Jankovic had a real nice win over Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6(4), her first win over a top ten opponent this year.  She'll face Bammer in her quarterfinal, a rematch of their US Open quarterfinal from last year.   Caroline Wozniacki only played three games before Melinda Czink retired, and will play Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals.

I like Clijsters, Jankovic, Dementieva, and Pennetta to advance. 

What are your predictions?