Pavlyuchenkova beats Jankovic in Madrid WTA Premier

MADRID - Serbian female tennis player Jelena Jankovic failed to qualify for the next round of the Madrid WTA Premier in as she lost the second round match late on Wednesday to Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 2-1 - 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3).

The match between the 6th-ranked and the 25th-ranked players on the WTA list was marked by an exhausting marathon-like game in which the powers were at first rather even, only to become very dramatic and brimming with advantage shifts towards the end.

This was the sixth time Jakovic and Pavlyuchenkova crossed rackets and the Russian player scored a well-earned victory after nearly three hours of the match.

In the fight for the quarterfinal, the Russian player will play again another Serbian tennis player, Ana Ivanovic, who defeated Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski in the Tuesday match, 6-4, 6-2.

The match is due on Thursday around 5 p.m. and Ivanovic is the favourite as she won all five matches against Pavlyuchenkova played so far.

The prize fund of the Madrid WTA Premier totals EUR 3.67 million.

AP Photo/Andres Kudacki