Jankovic and Dementieva crash in California
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:30
The seeds, they keep on tumbling. Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva join Svetlana Kuznetsova on the also-ran list after suffering shock second round defeats at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Jankovic, the No.2 seed, appeared totally out of sorts as she slumped to a 6-4 6-4 defeat to teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
“I wish I had a magic stick and could just start playing awesome tennis again” – Jankovic
“I’m struggling in this moment to find my game overall and find the confidence on the court,” said Jankovic, who had received a bye to the second round. “I’m not at my level. I’m trying to find that game and trying to come back into the 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.”
The Serb also complained of ‘feeling too heavy’ following weeks of intensive training during the off-season.
“I was always a certain weight and always my best weapon was my legs. I always moved and I had the anticipation and I was always on the ball. Now. I just cannot do that. I’m one step too slow or one step too much into the shot.”
Dementieva, who began the year with back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney and then reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open, admitted she didn’t want to play in California after a hectic early season.
The Olympic champion and No.3 seed was knocked out by qualifier Petra Cetkovska 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1.
“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,” she said during a downbeat press conference.
“I needed a much longer break to get ready to play at my best.”
Amidst the tumbling seeds, defending champion Ana Ivanovic did find her way to the third round with a 6-4 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova, and the draw looks to have opened up for the No.5 seed.
Agnieszka Radwanska is also through, joining her younger sister in the third round after beating Sam Stosur 3-6 6-3 7-5.
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