Jelena Jankovic's bid to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking ended Friday when she joined Olympic champion Elena Dementieva in being bundled out at the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Jankovic, who would have snatched the top spot from Serena Williams with a win this week at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum, put in an error-strewn performance as she crashed out to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, giving up seven breaks over the course of the match.
Former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova was also guilty of failing to make her serves count, but held her nerve to claim a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 win and set up a semifinal clash with Slovenian qualifier Katarina Srebotnik, who upset world No. 4 Dementieva in straight sets later in the day.