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Jelena Jankovic works up a sweat - Source: Reuters -
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Champion Jelena Jankovic was dumped out of the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals by Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-3 on Saturday, a day after clinching the last remaining spot in next week's WTA championships in Doha.
The Serbian second seed ended her stay in Moscow by double-faulting twice on the last two points to gift-wrap the win to the unseeded Russian after 85 minutes.
"It was a difficult match for me, I tried my best but she played better," world number nine Jankovic, who lost to 27th-ranked Kleybanova in Toronto in August in their only previous meeting, told a news conference.
"I can't say I was holding myself back having already qualified for Doha, but sometimes you try and it just doesn't work out."
Kleybanova, 20, said she fully deserved her victory.
"Of course, I'm very happy, but I've already beaten her once and I wanted to prove that that win was no fluke," she said.
"Last time we played I had to save match points in the second set before winning in three, so this time it was very important for me to beat her in two sets, to show that I'm a better player."
Jankovic's defeat continued the cull of seeds at the annual indoor tournament, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
Top seed Vera Zvonareva was thrashed by world number 126 Tsvetana Pironkova 6-0 6-2 in the second round, ending the Russian's hopes of qualifying for Doha, while Poland's third seed Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Russia's Maria Kirilenko in the first round.
The men's top two seeds, Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Romanian Victor Hanescu, were also knocked out in the first round.
Third seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia takes on Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Italian Francesca Schiavone, at number eight, is the highest seed left in the women's draw after beating Kirilenko 6-3 6-2 earlier in the day.
Unseeded Ukrainian Alena Bondarenko was the first to seal her place in the last four with a routine 6-3 6-3 win over Pironkova, sending the Bulgarian qualifier down to earth less than 24 hours after her biggest victory.
Bondarenko, who had lost in the first round on both of her previous appearances in Moscow, faces Schiavone in Sunday's semi-finals.
Kleybanova will meet the winner of the match between Russian Vera Dushevina and Olga Govortsova of Belarus.
