U.S. Open Tennis | Ex-champ Svetlana Kuznetsova exits

NEW YORK — Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova became the latest upset victim at the U.S. Open, beaten by 28th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 in the third round Friday.

A day after No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia lost to 188th-ranked Julie Coin of France, the third-seeded Kuznetsova was eliminated. The Russian won the tournament in 2004 and finished second last year.

Srebotnik fell to her knees an instant before Kuznetsova's last shot sailed beyond the baseline. After beating American Serena Williams in the French Open this year, Srebotnik had another reason to celebrate, having gone farther than ever before at Flushing Meadows.

Against Kuznetsova, Srebotnik won the point 22 of 32 times she went to the net.

"She played her top game," Kuznetsova said. "For me, like, she played unbelievable."

Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia won another sneaker squeaker, playing 28 points in the last game to finish off Zheng Jie of China 7-5, 7-5.

"You're not there in a picnic," Jankovic said.

Roger Federer of Switzerland, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Elena Dementieva of Russia also won in straight sets.

In night matches delayed more than an hour by rain, No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France defeated No. 23 Lindsay Davenport of the United States 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland beat Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Former Open champion Marat Safin of Russia lost to No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-0.

American Andy Roddick, seeded eighth, lost the first set and was down 5-3 in the second before rallying to defeat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 7-5.

Second-seeded Federer, seeking his fifth U.S. Open title in a row, beat qualifier Thiago Alves of Brazil 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.

Jankovic came out full of energy, showing no ill effects of a bad left leg that cramped after she played Wednesday. She bounded back and forth and, in her trademark style, often came to screeching stops while doing the splits to reach shots.

"As long as I'm doing the splits, that means I'm healthy," she said. "When I'm not doing the splits, you know there's something wrong. I'm not too sure about my body if I go into a split. Who knows if I'll come back up?"

Jankovic is trying to reach her first final in a Grand Slam tournament. She needs three more victories — with Justine Henin retired, Maria Sharapova injured, Ivanovic ousted and the Williams sisters in the opposite bracket, this figures to be one of her best chances.

Jankovic had five match points in the final game, which went to deuce 11 times. She needed a bit of a break before her last serve; in her previous match, she chided her opponent for not being ready to receive soon enough.

"I wish I didn't have any drama in my matches. I wish I would win nice and in a simple way," she said. "Who likes drama? Do you know anybody that likes to get involved into tight matches?"

Kuznetsova and Ivanovic were among six women who entered the U.S. Open with a chance to lead the rankings afterward; Kuznetsova no longer is in the mix.

"It's getting so much messed up," Kuznetsova said, referring to the rankings. "I don't get anything [about] who's going to be number one."

It is rather complicated, so leave it at this: Ivanovic, Jankovic, Serena Williams, Dinara Safina and Dementieva all have a chance to be atop the WTA Tour rankings the day after the year's last major ends.

Serving at 5-all in the second set, Davenport hit seven faults in a row and later double-faulted a fourth time in the game.

"I guess they call it 'the yips' on your serve. I don't know where it came from," Davenport said. "Probably came from all my years making fun of people that had it. That was my karma coming back."