Sharapova's exit prompts last-eight schedule tweak

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New York, Sep 4; The early exit of reigning champion Maria Sharapova has prompted US Open organisers to switch Venus Williams's quarter-final against Jelena Jankovic to tomorrow.

In a shift from traditional scheduling, the last-eight match between Wimbledon champion Williams and third-seeded Serb Jankovic has been moved from today, tournament spokesman Chris Widmaier told reporters.

The top half quarters are usually played on Tuesday but Sharapova's third-round exit meant the bottom half threw up encounters between Russian fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova against Hungary's Agnes Szavay, and sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze against 18th-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer.

They will play during tomorrow's day session.

The move was seen as an attempt to provide a showcase match for the televised night programme that would usually feature a quarter-final from the lower half of the women's draw.

The other quarter-final from the upper half, top-seeded Justine Henin of Belgium against twice champion Serena Williams -- will be played during Tuesday's night session.

Venus Williams and Jankovic both approved of the switch, Widmaier said. The women's semi-finals are both played on Friday.

Reuters>