Ailing Jankovic sent tumbling

(GETTY IMAGES)

Jelena Jankovic, the top seed, went out of the Kremlin Cup at the first hurdle after a 6-1 6-2 thrashing by little-known Kazakh teenager Zarina Diyas yesterday. Serbia's former world No 1, who had a bye in the first round, looked out of sorts from the start and was beaten in less than an hour by the 268th-ranked Diyas.

"I'm not feeling well. I have been sick since I came from China," said Jankovic, who also suffered a second-round defeat at the China Open earlier this month. "I got an infection and have been on antibiotics for a week or so and unfortunately I wasn't ready to play at my level. I was suffering a lot but I didn't want to retire."

Jankovic said she would try to be back for next month's season-ending WTA championships in Doha. "I just hope that I can recover and feel better for Doha," the world No 7 said. "It's tough, it's the end of the year, my body is exhausted. It's been a long season with lots of travelling. I have one more tournament left and hope I can at least be healthy so I can go there and play."

Great Britain's Anne Keothavong advanced to the quarter-finals of the Luxembourg Open yesterday with a straight-sets victory over Switzerland's Patty Schnyder. Keothavong triumphed 7-5 6-2 in her second-round meeting with the 31-year-old from Basle, who is ranked 100 places higher than the 27-year-old Londoner. The Briton will face Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic in the last eight.