Second seed Jelena Jankovic dodged a flu-coated bullet to advance to the last 16 at the ASB Classic international women's tennis tournament yesterday but defending champion Eleni Daniilidou was not so lucky.
Serb Jankovic, 19, who bolted from No 82 to No 28 in the world rankings last year, was off colour, had not hit a ball in practice for three days and struggled for much of her 7-5 6-2 win over Luxembourg's Claudine Schaul.
Third seed Daniilidou, bidding for a third successive Classic title, was also out of sorts against unheralded Italian Mara Santangelo, who won 6-2 1-6 6-1.
The pair had met once last year, with Santangelo winning at the Australian Open.
"I just lost all my concentration. I am just very disappointed," a tearful Daniilidou said.
Santangelo played strongly from the baseline and took her chances as Daniilidou's game collapsed.
"I didn't expect to win this match," a delighted Santangelo said.
She was not alone in that.
As for Jankovic, she was fortunate that world No 61 Schaul was her own worst enemy in their match.
Schaul, of Luxembourg, blew several chances in the first set, just as Jankovic was blowing hard between points.
In the end, Jankovic gave glimpses of her strength from the back of the court and she believes if she can shake off her bug she will do well this week.
"It was really tough for me because I could not breathe. I did not have much energy, I feel weak and slow," she said.
"If I can play my game, if I feel a little bit better, I will be okay."
Today she plays Spain's diminutive Nuria Llagostera Vives, who tipped out 2000 winner Anne Kremer in quick time 6-3 6-3 yesterday.
Two qualifiers won through to the last 16 today. Slovakia's Janette Husarova removed sixth seed Kristina Brandi, of Puerto Rico, 6-1 6-2 and Israeli Shahar Peer beat Japan's Akiko Morigami 6-3 4-6 6-3.
Apart from Daniilidou, another seed was beaten last night when Katarina Srebotnik, of Slovenia, beat the tournament eighth seed, Russian Alina Jidkova, 6-3 4-6 6-3.
In addition to Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier, beaten by New Zealand's Marina Erakovic, the other qualifiers to disappear yesterday were Japan's Yuka Yoshida, who went down 0-6 1-6 to Czech Republic player Lucie Safarova, ranked 58 places below her, and 2001 Classic champion Meilen Tu, who went down to fellow American Jill Craybas 2-6 2-6.
A dark horse this week might be Japan's fourth seed Shinobu Asagoe.
The world No 37 whistled past Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis 6-4 6-1 today and tackles unseeded American Shenay Perry today for a quarterfinal spot.-NZPA
Daniilidou makes a hasty exit
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