Immediately after qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Jelena Jankovic crashed out of the Kremlin Cup, losing to Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova was dumped out by unseeded Shahar Peer in the other tournament of the week, played in Luxembourg.
Second seed Jankovic, who failed to defend her Kremlin Cup title, said she wasn’t saving herself for Doha which starts October 27, rather, she simply couldn’t cope with Kleybanova at the time.
Russian Kleybanova will take on Olga Govortsova in the semifinals.
At the BGL Luxembourg Open, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova lost her quarterfinal match against Shahar Peer of Israel in straight sets, 6-2 7-6(4). Peer’s next opponent will be sixth seed Sabine Lisicki. In the quarters, the German defeated Patty Schnyder, who had taken out the 2009 US Open champion and five-time titlist in Luxembourg Kim Clijsters in the previous round. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)
It was surprising see that Jankovic lost today in straight sets. She’s definitely saving herself for Doha, she doesn’t want to risk getting injured when she doesn’t need to play anymore. Wozniacki was obviously doing the same thing in Luxembourg when she retired.
I didn’t think it was intentional.
I don’t know if it was intentional or not and I don´t care. I just hope she can win in Doha! 🙂
Maybe not, considering that she lost to Kleybanova the last time they played but I still would not have expected her to lose in straight sets because to me Jankovic is clearly the better player. Hopefully she does well in Doha, but I’m not expecting much.
The same here, I would like her to do exceptionally well, but my expectations are low.
I think it is better for us to have low expectations for her, so that she can pleasantly surprise us!!
Cannot wait! GOOD LUCK JJ! Marija, thanks for the article!