Jankovic all smiles as Zvonareva blows it in Moscow

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:48

Tsvetana Pironkova stunned Kremlin Cup top seed Vera Zvonareva 6-0 6-2 in the second round, a result that confirms Jelena Jankovic’s spot at the season-ending Sony Ericsson WTA Championships.

The Serb, who began the tournament five points ahead of Zvonareva, is now guaranteed to finish the season as world No.8, regardless of how she finishes at the Kremlin Cup.

Serena and Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka have already qualified for the Championships and skipped the event in Moscow.

Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska will now go to Doha as alternates.

Jankovic, who entered the Guinness Book of Records last week when a mosaic of her face was made from photographs of 137,264 smiling faces, breezed past Lucie Safarova 7-6(5) 6-3.

Pironkova will face Alona Bondarenko in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Maria Kirilenko of Russia defeated Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash with Francesca Schiavone, who defeated Monica Niculescu 6-2 7-5.

In the men’s event, Marat Safin’s retirement drew closer following a 6-4 7-6(4) defeat to compatriot Evgeny Korolev in the second round.

The 29-year-old Russian beat Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday, but came up short against the world No.51, who will face Ilya Marchenko in the quarter-finals after the Ukrainian qualifier beat Korolev’s regular doubles parter Andrey Golubev 6-1 1-6 6-4.

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