Jankovic slumps to opening round defeat
MOSCOW: Serbia's fifth seed Jelena Jankovic suffered an early exit from the joint WTA/ATP Kremlin Cup tournament here on Tuesday as she lost 4-6, 6-1, 4-6 at the hands of unheralded Russian...
October 19, 2011
Jankovic, the 2008 champion here, was the highest profile casualty as Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had no such problems, the two-time Grand Slam winner dismissing French journeywoman Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-3.
Kuznetsova, who is seeking her first title of a thusfar fallow season and 14th title in all, was only beating Cornet for the first time after losing their previous two meetings.
Kuznetsova, currently 19th in the world, started confidently breaking the French qualifier twice early on for a 4-1 advantage.
The 21-year-old Frenchwoman reduced the arrears breaking back in the sixth game but Kuznetsova broke again in the ninth to clinch a one-set lead after 35 minutes on court.
Cornet started the second with a break for a 2-0 lead but the 26-year-old Russian stepped up a gear to take five consecutive games to win the set and the match to face Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in a match for a place in the last eight.
In the men's section Moscow-born Alex Bogomolov Jr of the United States, who is seeded fifth here, battled into the second round through a tough three-setter with Serbia's Dusan Lajovic winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to face his doubles' companion Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Russia's sixth seed Dmitry Tursunov saw off Spaniard Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 while Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who is seeded seventh here, also advanced into the second round past Russian qualifier Konstantin Kravchuk, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
