Football
Reuters 16y

UPDATE 3-Tennis-Jankovic derailed by risk-taking Kuznetsova

(Updates after Safina win)

By Alastair Himmer

TOKYO, Sept 19 - Top seed Jelena Jankovic was
bundled out of the Pan Pacific Open in a 2-6 7-5 7-5 defeat by
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in Friday's quarter-finals.

The loss ended the Serb's hopes of recapturing the world
number one ranking from Serena Williams this week following her
recent loss to the American in U.S. Open final.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva became the sixth of the
tournament's top eight seeds to bow out of the Tokyo event as
the Russian was upset 6-3 6-4 by Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

Jankovic tore through the first set but, after being pegged
back by Kuznetsova, both players struggled for consistency in
the decider, which contained eight breaks of serve.

A double fault gave Kuznetsova a 6-5 lead and the Russian's
nerve held as she closed out proceedings with a kicking serve
and a sharp backhand drop volley after almost two-and-a-half
hours.

"I knew I had to take risks in the third set," the former
U.S. Open champion told reporters after beating Jankovic for the
fourth time in six meetings.

"She made a few double-faults on important points. I guess
she was scared because I was attacking.

"In Russia we say if you don't take risks you don't drink
champagne."

BLACK MOOD

Jankovic, who had fumed at the chair umpire and yelled at
herself as her game began to unravel, was still in a black mood
an hour after the match.

"I'm frustrated," she said. "I was unlucky on a couple of
big points. It just wasn't my day. I have to learn from this."

Kuznetsova will face Srebotnik in Saturday's semi-finals.

Fourth seed Dinara Safina briefly flirted with disaster
before advancing with a 6-4 6-7 6-2 win over Estonian qualifier
Kaia Kanepi in the day's last quarter-final.

Meanwhile, Nadia Petrova sprung her second surprise in 24
hours by beating sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3
6-0 in the bottom half of the draw.

The Russian, who stunned Serb Ana Ivanovic, the second seed
in Tokyo, in Thursday's second round, takes on compatriot Safina
in the semi-finals.
(Editing by John Mehaffey)

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