New York - Former finalists Elena Dementieva and Jelena Jankovic were eliminated in successive surprises in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
Blinking back tears and ignoring pain, American teenager Melanie Oudin defeated No.4-ranked Elena Dementieva 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Then No.5 Jelena Jankovic lost 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6) to Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan in a 2 hour-40 minute match. Jankovic reached the final in 2008, but she said she wasn't focused on this day: Her grandmother died on Wednesday.
"I was very sad and emotionally I was really not on court," Jankovic said. "I really tried my best to be there and to try to play, but it was really hard."
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'Another tough day in the office' The losses by Dementieva and Jankovic mean half of the top 20 seeded women are out of the draw. No. 23 Sabine Lisicki of Germany is also gone, having left in tears as she was taken away in a wheelchair after injuring her ankle at the end of a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 defeat against Anastasia Rodionova of Australia.
No.1 Dinara Safina nearly joined the parade of surprising exits, turning in her second poor performance of the week before hanging on to edge 67th-ranked Kristina Barrois of Germany 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3.
"Another tough day in the office," said Safina, who double-faulted 15 times, including three in the tiebreaker. "There is no problem in the technique or nothing. Just in my head."
In other action, 2007 finalist Novak Djokovic cruised by Australian qualifier Carsten Ball 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Also winners were No. 8-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, No. 10 Fernando Verdasco and No. 14 Tommy Robredo of Spain, No. 15 Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, No. 20 Tommy Haas of Germany, and Americans James Blake, Sam Querrey and Jesse Witten, a qualifier ranked 276th. French Open runner-up Robin Soderling advanced when opponent Marcel Granollers of France, quit during the third game with a back injury.
'There is no problem in the technique ... Just in my head'
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