WTA Tour - Round-up: Top seeds crash out

Eurosport - Sun, 15 Mar 17:43:00 2009

Pre-tournament favourites Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic suffered shock defeats in the second round at Indian Wells.

Russia's Elena Dementieva reacts after losing a point to Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic at the Indian Wells - 0

Second seed Jankovic was upended 6-4 6-4 by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia while third seed Dementieva was beaten 7-6 2-6 6-1 by Czech Petra Cetkovska.

Serbian Jankovic was well below her best against world number 42 Pavlyuchenkova and admitted she was totally out of sorts.

"I'm struggling in this moment to find my game overall and find the confidence on the court," Jankovic said.

"Obviously she was the better player. But I'm not at my level. That's the case. I'm trying to find that game and trying to come back into form, but I'm struggling at the moment.

"I wish I had a magic stick and could just fix my game and just start playing awesome tennis again. I would like it to be that way, but sometimes it's not."

Russian Dementieva hit a total of 14 double faults, eight in the first set, as she suffered her earliest defeat in the Indian Wells tournament since 2003.

Dementieva, who began the year with back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney and then reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open, blamed her hectic schedule so far in 2009 for her lacklustre effort.

"I just think my mind wasn't there," she said. "I was not really excited about playing this match and I just didn't play at all.

"I think I should not have come here because I did not have enough time to recover after playing so many matches at the beginning of the year. I needed a much longer break to get ready to play at my best."

World number 71 Cetkovska, in her first Indian Wells appearance, snatched the first set 7-2 on a tiebreak. Dementieva levelled in the second set before falling apart in the third.

The 24-year-old Cetkovska said the victory was the best of her career.

"Every single opportunity I had, even if I could make a mistake, I tried to be aggressive," she said. "That was what I had in my head all the time."

Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic advanced to the next round but was made to fight hard for a 6-4 6-3 victory over Belarussian Anastasia Yakimova.

"It was just a case of committing and going for some shots that I would maybe do in practice," Ivanovic said.

"Just trying to get some confidence and also experimenting a little bit with my game, because I haven't played many competitive matches."

Seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland had to come from behind to beat Australian Sam Stosur 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Reuters

Comment 2 - 21 of 21

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. ZAMFIR POST 20 JUSTINE HENIN HAD MORE TALENT IN HER­ LITTLE FINGER THAN THE WILLIAMS SISTERS HAVE IN THEIR­ WHOLE BODY.SHOULD JUSTINE DECIDE TO COME BACK SHE WOULD­ BEAT VENUS AND SERENA AGAIN FOR SURE.JUSTINE HAS NO­ NEED TO COME BACK THOUGH SHE IS VERY HAPPY WITH HER NEW­ LIFE.
    HOE DARE YOU SPEAK ABOUT JUSTINE LIKE THAT­ REFERING TO HER LIFE STYLE YOU VILE VILE PERSON.
    GOOD­ LUCK VIKA AND SHARHAR IN YOUR MATCH I LIKE YOU BOTH­ VERY MUCH THE BEST WILL WIN.

    From AJ, on Tue 17 Mar 1:21PM

  2. You all now see how ridiculous womens tennis without­ the Williams Sisters??? Who´s blog is that­ there...you´re true very very true...Justin Henin­ Catapulted to number one when the sisters were­ sidelined by injury and took a rest... when the willams­ sisters back and started winning she then decided to­ retire...I really salute to her good decision...because­ if not...maybe this time she´ll not just ruin her heart­ but also her body. BY THE WAY::::Is she a­ bi-sexual...??? just asking..

    From JOMA, on Mon 16 Mar 11:49AM

  3. DARLING DEMENTIEVA ,,, PLEASE HAVE A REST AT HOME WITH­ YOUR FAMILY & LITTLE DOG

    TO RETURN REFRESHED­ ,,,--- IT'S ONLY -1*C IN MOSCOW NOW ---- ­ ESCAPE FROM EXCESS HEAT

    From sunita139, on Mon 16 Mar 6:45AM

  4. GEO PLEASE LEARN TO SPELL.
    JUSTINE HENIN WAS THE BEST­ EVER PLAYER ON THE WTA TOUR.THERE WILL NEVER BE ANYONE­ AS TALENTED AS JUSTINE SHE HAD EVERY SHOT IN THE BOOK­ END OF STORY OK.

    From AJ, on Sun 15 Mar 6:45PM

  5. I might sue you for that Igor. Anti mob not anti­ Serbia. Go on you are an intelligent man.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sun 15 Mar 6:15PM

  6. Justine is the best ever regarding her constitution and­ play style !
    end of story !

    From Igor K, on Sun 15 Mar 5:13PM

  7. AJ ALWAYS FULL OF SUCH GOOD ADVICE!

    From Nicholas, on Sun 15 Mar 4:30PM

  8. hi Ray.. yes I know you are a mean boy ;-)

    From Igor K, on Sun 15 Mar 4:27PM

  9. Hey, Vanda, Justine henin became No.1, while the­ Williams sisters were not playing tennis anymore or i­ should say when they were partime- players. the real­ No.1 and 2 are the sisters, they have been there since­ Stiffy Graf`s time and Sales, Hingis, Capriatti,­ Davemport, Kim C. they have all gone yet the Williams­ sisters are still on top. Yankovic and Evanovic will­ never ever be closer to the sisters.

    From Geo_, on Sun 15 Mar 4:12PM

  10. hey igor, how are u my friend LOL. remember kleyvanova?­ she broke your heart in Ausie.
    She sent anna back home­ long before anna get some sweat at the ausie.

    From Ray V, on Sun 15 Mar 3:03PM

  11. Peng or Cetkovska will win this one, women's tennis­ is a laugh.

    From cas.hofstee, on Sun 15 Mar 12:35PM

  12. ah Sanchez, again your hate towards Serbia ! It’s not­ so small country you know having such fine athletes !

    From Igor K, on Sun 15 Mar 12:09PM

  13. The mob have switched over to Ana, how annoying.­ Overstep the mark and we'll send you back to your­ little country fast, trust me.

    From sanchez.santos, on Sun 15 Mar 12:03PM

  14. WELL WELL WELLL WHAT CAN I SAY.JANKOVIC NEEDS TO GET­ RID OF HER TRAINER PAT ETCHBERRY HE NEARLY RUINED­ JUSTINE HENIN'S CAREER.THEN JUSTINE SAW THE LIGHT­ GOT RID OF HIM AND STARTED GETTING BETTER AND­ BETTER.WORLD NUMBER ONE FOR 100 WEEKS OR MORE.
    SORRY TO­ SEE ELENA GO OUT AS WELL WHAT HAPPENED TO HER SINCE­ WINNING 2 TITLES AT START OF YEAR.
    PLEASE PLEASE COME­ BACK MY IDOL JUSTINE HENIN WTA TOUR NEEDS YOU.

    From AJ, on Sun 15 Mar 11:39AM

  15. Cumon Ana......you are the only real champ left, that­ was obvious without a Williams. Now take out all these­ pretenders......especially Dinara (if she doen't­ fall in the next round).

    From sanchez.santos, on Sun 15 Mar 11:34AM

  16. Looks like the Iron Curtain mentality is kinda brittle.

    From jay, on Sun 15 Mar 11:14AM

  17. Williamses we need you. Most consistent this year.

    From P B, on Sun 15 Mar 10:17AM

  18. this is what i am talking about, i like dementieva a­ lot but she and jelena are pretenders at the top five­ spots. anytime they can be taken down by any of the B­ players around. look what happend to kusnetzova. i will­ not be surprised if ana ivanovic and safina will join­ these ladies. IW trophy is a prize for a pack of­ wolves, no one is a clear favorite. they should take­ the advantage of the williamses not being in the tour.

    From Ray V, on Sun 15 Mar 9:51AM

  19. Indian Well & Miami are just too close and players­ need to recover but hey, it's tough out there and­ seeds are dropping like it's hot!

    From Vic M, on Sun 15 Mar 9:31AM

  20. It is sad that anyone can beat top 10 wta players.
    When­ Justine Henin was number one, everyone was fighting and­ dreaming for No.1 place.
    Now every month we have new­ No.1, and deaire to win and to achieve is gone.
    We need­ real women champ.

    From (¯`·.¸¸.- °º Sampioncica º°, on Sun 15 Mar 9:05AM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account