Jankovic ousted in Moscow

Source: Agencies | 2009-10-24 | NEWSPAPER EDITION

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ALISA Kleybanova of Russia beat defending champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-3 yesterday to advance to the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

The upset came a day after the second-seeded Jankovic took the last spot for next week's season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Jankovic dropped serve in the fifth game of each set. Down 3-5 in the second set, Jankovic double-faulted twice to lose the match.

Eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Russia's Maria Kirilenko.

Schiavone, the 2005 runner-up, will next play Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko, who ousted Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3.

The 24th-ranked Schiavone dominated against Kirilenko to reach her fifth semifinal this season.

"I think she (Kirilenko) fought a lot," Schiavone said. "But I was fast, I was aggressive, I was very determined -- with those things together I'm tough to beat. But I respect Maria, she was playing very good at the end of this season. I had to do my best to beat her."

The 36th-ranked Bondarenko won four consecutive games in the first set and broke Pironkova decisively in the eighth game of the second.

On the men's side, sixth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia advanced to his first semifinal this season by beating Robby Ginepri of the United States, 6-3, 6-3.

In Luxembourg, Patty Schnyder beat Kim Clijsters 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6) to reach the Luxembourg Open quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Swiss star punished Clijsters for her 11 double faults in the two-hour match and imposed the first defeat on the Belgian since she won the US Open last month.

Schnyder, the former top-10 player ranked 47th, will play Sabine Lisicki of Germany in the quarterfinals.

Another Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer, did better. She beat France's Alize Cornet 7-5, 7-6 (6) to earn a match against compatriot Kirsten Flipkens.