World number two Dinara Safina and seventh-ranked Ana Ivanovic slumped to shock defeats in the Sony Ericsson Open third round yesterday.
While there were surprises in the women's competition, it was business as usual for the top ranked men with world number two Roger Federer and American favourite Andy Roddick both cruising through.
Russian Safina lost 6-1 6-4 to Australian Samantha Stosur after rain stopped play with her trailing 5-4 in the second set.
"It just bad match for me. It was just a disaster match. I started to play a little bit better at 6 1, 3 0 but I had put the game in her hands and it was too late," Safina told reporters, adding that she was feeling jaded.
Stosur, ranked 42nd in the world, will face the winner of the match between Italian Flavia Pennetta and France's Amelie Mauresmo.
Hungarian Agnes Szavay, ranked 25th, beat Ivanovic 6-4 4-6 6-1 in another rain-affected match.
BAD WEEEKEND
Ivanovic's exit completed a bad weekend for Serbia after Jelena Jankovic was knocked out in the second round by Argentine Gisela Dulko.
"I hardly did anything well today. I was trying to come in, and I was volleying pretty well at times, but I was really disappointed. I couldn't really hold my serve," Ivanovic said.
Roddic survived a gruelling first set tiebreak against Russian Dmitry Tursunov, which he won 11-9, before going on to ease through the second set 6-2.
Federer enjoyed a routine 6-4 6-1 win over German Nicolas Kiefer but will face a surprise opponent in the fourth round after 15th-ranked Spaniard Tommy Robredo lost 7-5 6-3 to American qualifier Taylor Dent.
Dent's career looked finished in 2007 after he spent most of the year in a cast following a serious back injury.
Later on Sunday top-ranked woman Serena Williams meets China's Peng Shuai.
(Agencies via Shanghai Daily March 30, 2009)
