Champion Jelena Jankovic was dumped out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals by Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-3 on Friday, a day after clinching the last remaining spot in next week’s WTA championships in Doha.
The Serbian second seed ended her stay in Moscow by double-faulting twice on the last two points to gift-wrap the win to the Russian after 85 minutes.
“It was a difficult match for me, I tried my best, but she played better,” world No. 9 Jankovic, who lost to 27th-ranked Kleybanova in Toronto in August in their only previous meeting, told a press conference. “I can’t say I was holding myself back having already qualified for Doha, but sometimes you try and it just doesn’t work out.”
Kleybanova, 20, said she fully deserved her victory.
“Of course, I’m very happy, but I’ve already beaten her once and I wanted to prove that that win was no fluke,” Kleybanova said.
Jankovic’s defeat continued the cull of seeds at the annual indoor tournament, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Top seed Vera Zvonareva was thrashed by world No. 126 Tsvetana Pironkova 6-0, 6-2 in the second round, ending the Russian’s hopes of qualifying for Doha, while Poland’s third seed Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Russia’s Maria Kirilenko in the first round.
The men’s top two seeds, Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Romanian Victor Hanescu, were also knocked out in the first round.
Russian third seed Mikhail Youzhny avoided their fate, however, dismissing Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour on the last match of the day on center court.
World No. 30 Youzhny now takes on another qualifier, Mikhail Kukushkin, in the semi-finals after the 157th-ranked Kazakh knocked out fifth seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
The second semi-final will pit sixth-seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Robby Ginepri of the US, against Ukrainian qualifier Ilya Marchenko, who put out Russian Evgeny Korolev 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Italian Francesca Schiavone, at No. 8, is the highest seed left in the women’s draw after beating Kirilenko 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day.
In the women’s semi-finals, Schiavone will face unseeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
Bondarenko, who had lost in the first round on both of her previous appearances in Moscow, was the first to seal her place in the last four with a routine 6-3, 6-3 win over Pironkova, sending the Bulgarian qualifier down to earth less than 24 hours after her biggest victory.
Kleybanova faces Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who dismantled Russian Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-0, in the other semi.
■STOCKHOLM OPEN
AFP, STOCKHOLM
Top seed Robin Soderling kept home title hopes alive when he defeated Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 in the Stockholm Open quarter-finals on Friday.
The Swede, who was runner-up to Argentina’s David Nalbandian last year, shook off an early break before taking victory in 1 hour, 43 minutes.
French Open runner-up Soderling is fighting for one of two remaining spots in next month’s eight-man ATP World Finals in London, standing provisional ninth behind Nikolay Davydenko and Fernando Verdasco. The Swede can gain some ground this week, though not pass Verdasco, who will not play until Valencia in eight days’ time.
Soderling will next face 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who eliminated Frenchman Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4. Soderling was playing in the 10th quarter-final of his breakthrough season, improving to 45-18.
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci fired 18 aces to defeat Joachim Johansson 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in their quarter-final to leave Soderling the last home hope. Bellucci, 21, whose last quarter-final appearance in August led to a career breakthrough trophy on clay at Gstaad, will play for a spot in the final against Oliver Rochus after the Belgian defeated Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
The ace output of Bellucci, ranked 45th, was almost matched by Johansson, who fired 13.
The Brazilian winner saved the lone break point he faced, while Johansson lost his own serve once.
“I stayed concentrated throughout the whole match. I served very well which took pressure off me, so I was very happy with that,” said the South American.
Johansson’s lack of consistent match play because of years of shoulder injuries showed as he went down to defeat in his fourth Stockholm quarter-final. The 27-year-old Swede’s best performance in Stockholm was a run to the 2006 semi-finals, when he lost to Nieminen, also currently coming back from injury after wrist surgery.
Johansson was playing his first quarter-final since January 2007, in Adelaide, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.
■LUXEMBOURG OPEN
AFP, LUXEMBOURG
Yanina Wickmayer kept Belgian hopes alive on Friday as the world No. 20 defeated compatriot Kirsten Flipkens 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-1 to reach the semi-finals.
Wickmayer, who had seen countrywoman and US Open winner Kim Clijsters knocked out by Patty Schnyder in the second round late on Thursday, will tackle Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinzsky for a place in the final.
Bacsinzsky defeated Slovenia’s Katerina Srebotnik 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-4.
The other semi-final will see Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, the sixth seed, face Shahar Peer of Israel.
Peer put out Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), while Lisicki saw off Schnyder 6-4, 6-2.
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