Top-seeded Anastasia Myskina was upset by Italy's Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in her first match at the Wismilak International on Thursday.
Given a first-round bye, Myskina played poorly, serving seven double faults in the first set, and allowing herself to be overwhelmed by unforced errors after winning the second set against an opponent she crushed in March at Indian Wells.
PHOTO: EPA
It was the fourth defeat in the last five matches for Myskina, the French Open champion, who rose to a career-high No. 2 in the rankings this week.
Meanwhile, Russian compatriots Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open champion, and Nadia Petrova, cruised into the last eight.
No. 4 Petrova downed Marta Marrero of Spain 7-5, 6-1, and set up a quarterfinal against Tathiana Garbin of Italy, who advanced when Marion Bartoli of France retired with a left thigh injury after losing the first eight games.
Marlene Weingartner of Germany defeated Japanese qualifier Aiko Nakamura 7-5, 6-3, and will play Cho Yoon-jeong of South Korea.
Camerin lined up a berth against No. 7 Gisela Dulko of Argentina in Friday's quarterfinals.
Second seeded Florian Mayer of Germany beat Arnaud Di Pasquale of France 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3 Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Open Romania Thursday.
Mayer, the highest seeded player left in the tournament, took 2 hours and 20 minutes to beat his opponent, capitalizing on his booming serve.
In the final test, the German, this year's Wimbledon quarterfinalist, fired five aces.
Unseeded Romanian Victor Hanescu, who ousted top-seeded Fernando Verdasco on Tuesday, also cruised to the quarterfinals, beating Austria's Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-3.
"The public is an ace up my sleeve," said the 82nd-ranked Romanian, who was cheered on by a boisterous crowd at the Progresul Arena.
Hanescu will next face seventh-seeded Filippo Volandri of Italy, who defeated Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
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