Jankovic ousted in three tough sets by Latvian on Day 2 in Monterrey

Jelena Jankovic became the first big casualty at the Monterrey Open on Monday night, succumbing to Latvian upstart Anastasija Sevastova in a topsy-turvy three-setter, 57 64 64.

Jankovic, the No.1 seed in the last leg of the Latin American swing, saved set point down 5-4 to win the first set but was on the other end of momentum shifts in the next two, losing a 3-1 lead in the second set and 4-2 in the third.

Sevastova - at No.72 Latvia's highest-ranked player, in fact their only player in the Top 500 - earned her first Top 10 win by beating the world No.9. She had played Top 10 players twice before but had lost, to Svetlana Kuznetsova at last year's US Open and to Agnieszka Radwanska at Dubai a few weeks ago.

In the second night match, No.4 seed Dominika Cibulkova reversed the upset trend with a 64 63 win over tricky Italian player Roberta Vinci.

No.3 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No.5 seed Agnes Szavay were among the winners in the day session. Among the unseeded winners in the day session was Polona Hercog, who is coming off her very first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles final - and her first Tour title of any kind, in doubles - at last week's Abierto Mexicano TELCEL presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

"I feel a bit tired because I played singles and doubles last week, which is why I'm not playing doubles here in Monterrey," Hercog said. "It is a funny feeling being back on hardcourts but I'm getting used to it. I'm not worried about my first matches because I'm getting used to the surface. I hope to keep playing well."


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Singles - First Round
Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) d. (1/WC) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 57 64 64
(3) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (Q) Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 61 62
(4/WC) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 63
(5) Agnes Szavay (HUN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 36 63
Sara Errani (ITA) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 62 63
Iveta Benesova (CZE) d. Jill Craybas (USA) 36 62 61
Polona Hercog (SLO) d. (Q) Corinna Dentoni (ITA) 62 64
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 62 64
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 63 61
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 76(5) 64
Patricia Mayr (AUT) d. (Q) Olga Savchuk (UKR) 76(5) 60