Top seed Jelena Jankovic’s chance of reclaiming the number one ranking has been ruined as she was defeated by Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Third seed Elena Dementieva, Olympic gold medalist and the latest player to qualify for the prestigious season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, was upset by Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.
Jankovic started well against the fifth-seeded Russian but eventually went down 2-6 7-5 7-5. Had she went all the way to the Tokyo title, Jankovic would have overtaken Serena Williams in the rankings.
Dementieva, the winner in Tokyo two years ago, failed to keep an early lead before going down to qualifier Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3 6-4. Srebotnik earned her fourth Top 10 win of the year.
Sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland also lost in a day of upsets, falling to Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-3 6-0. Fourth seed Dinara Safina of Russia was the best-ranked player to remain after beating qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2.
Semifinal pairs: Kuznetsova vs Srebotnik, Safina vs Petrova.
