Jelena Jankovic's quest for No. 1 this week may have gotten easier on Thursday, as she got past her third round opponent. Both Anna Chakvetadze and Vera Zvonareva were ousted in their matches at the East West Bank Classic presented by Herbalife.
Chakvetadze, seeded 3rd, was taken out by No. 14 seed Sybille Bammer in a tiring three-setter, 64 57 62. It was Chakvetadze's first loss in three meetings against the Austrian left-hander. Bammer's win over the world No.8 was her second career Top 10 win; her first came at the Tier I tournament in Doha earlier this year, against another Russian, then-world No.2 Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"I was making mistakes or I was hitting winners; I felt like I was playing against myself, especially during the third set," said Chakvetadze, who also lost earlier than expected at Stanford last week, falling to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. "I'm disappointed. I had an open door and I didn't take my opportunity."
Zvonareva, who reached the quarterfinals in eight of nine events that she played this year, was not so fortunate in Los Angeles, as she suffered a third round loss to countrywoman Nadia Petrova, seeded ninth, 64 75. It was Petrova's fifth win in their six career meetings.
Jankovic, ranked 2nd and going for the top spot, cruised through to the quarterfinals, winning in straight sets to lucky loser Melinda Czink, 63 62. Although the first set had more games, the second was longer, as six of the eight games consisted of many deuces. But Jankovic was the stronger player when it came to important points.
"I was playing much, much better than yesterday," said Jankovic, who nearly lost the first set of her first match of the week to Vania King, but still won in straight sets. "I was very pleased with my serve. Overall it was a lot better. It's really a big improvement from yesterday. Hopefully I can continue on like this."
With Daniela Hantuchova and Patty Schnyder falling in the second round, Anna Chakvetadze and Vera Zvonareva falling in the third round, and Serena Williams pulling out, only three seeds remain in the draw, Jankovic, No. 4 seed Dinara safina, and No. 8 seed Victoria Azarenka.
Jankovic is seeded first, and has to worry about playing either Safina or Azarenka, since the Russian and the Belorussian will play together in the quarterfinals, but she is only trying to focus on one match at a time.
"It's nice to be the No.1 seed and hopefully in the future, No.1 in the world; but some players put too much pressure on themselves," Jankovic said. "I just go out there to play the match and to play my best tennis. I want to win. Everyone expects me to win, but I don't think about that. I know what I have to work on and I go out to the practice courts. I don't think about what people expect."
Also advancing to the quarterfinals were No.10 seed Flavia Pennetta, a 76(5) 63 winner over Ai Sugiyama; wildcard Bethanie Mattek, a 75 62 winner over Olga Govortsova; and Yuan Meng, who beat lucky loser Melanie South, 62 63.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Jankovic faces Petrova, Safina faces Azarenka, Pennetta faces Bammer and Mattek faces Yuan.
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