Jan 10, 2007, 12:02 GMT
Sydney - Serging Serb Jelena Jankovic won her eighth consecutive match of the season as she slammed top seed Amelie Mauresmo out in the quarter-finals of the Medibank International tournament, 7-5, 6-0, on Wednesday.
'Eight wins in a row is unbelievable,' said the overjoyed winner. 'I couldn't have asked for a better start to the year. I'm so happy that I beat the number 3 in the world. It's just great.'
World number 12 Jankovic has made a mockery of her early-season start a year ago, when she won only one match until mid-May in Rome.
On current form, the 21-year-old, who once considered giving away tennis for university studies in Belgrade, has emerged as the player to beat going into Monday's start of the Australian Open.
There was more Russian injury trouble on the day, with men's second seed Nikolay Davydenko quitting after losing the first set (6- 4) to Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.
The number 3 becomes the third seed from his nation to quit a Sydney match in two days, following Svetlana Kusnetsova and Nadia Petrova on the women's side.
Davydenko said that he may have suffered a stress fracture in his foot which could force him to miss the Australian Open. He was due to undergo a scan on the problem.
'The doctor said it might be a stress fracture,' he said. 'But it is not like 100 percent, i need to check it out.'
The injury first flared last week in Doha but intensified in Sydney. He said if the worst comes true, he will need six weeks of rest.
Russian Dmitry Tursonov never started his opening match due to a wrist injury. The run of exits leaves qualifying lucky loser Evgeny Korolev as the last standing from nine Russians.
Defeat by Jankovic was a major disaster for Mauresmo, heading to the Australian Open as top seed in the absence of world number 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne.
The Frenchwoman came to the match with a 4-0 lead over Jankovic, including 2006 matches at Roland Garros and Beijing.
'I would have loved to play one or two more matches, but I still have some work to do,' said Mauresmo. 'I still need to work on the quickness around the court and reaction. It's the final details, which are very important.' Jankovic began her 2007 with the title at Auckland before crossing the Tasman to dominate in Sydney.
Belgian Kim Clijsters, playing in her last season before retirement at age 24, advanced into the semi-finals over Israeli Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-1.
Third seed Clijsters, with 33 career titles, will marry in the summer and plans to exit the game before year's end.
China's Na Li reached her third semi-final since last May with a defeat of Katarina Srebotnik, 7-5, 6-1, to set up a match with Clijsters.
Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis, now clean-shaven with his beard just a memory, reached the last eight on the ATP side, defeating Czech Jan Hernych 6-4, 6-7(2-7), 6-3.
The smiling Cypriot next faces Spanish veteran Carlos Moya, who outlasted compatriot Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.
Baghdatis, who lost the Melbourne final a year ago to Roger Federer, played the Doha quarter-finals last week and is keen to fine-tune for the major in Melbourne.
'I've had five weeks of preparation, I feel good both physically and mentally. Every time I go on to the court I just try to fight, to give my best, that's the only thing you can do.'
Fifth-seeded Sydney holder James Blake rolled to victory in less than an hour for the second time in succession as he took 56 minute to oust Australian Nathan Healey 6-2, 6-4.
But American compatriot Robby Ginepri crashed out after a fast start against Evgeny Korolev, collapsing to a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss. It was the 11th ATP win for Korolev, now facing Blake.
Frenchman Richard Gasquet beat Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 in another second-round game.
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