World number one Dinara Safina was dumped out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a second round defeat to Aravane Rezai of France.
Russian top seed comes up short in Toronto
World number one Dinara Safina was dumped out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a second round defeat to Aravane Rezai of France.
The Russian went to pieces on her serve, delivering a total of 17 double faults, and Rezai took advantage to win 3-6 6-2 6-4, gaining some compensation for a 6-1 6-0 defeat at the French Open earlier this year.
"It's not my serve, it's just my brain," admitted Safina, who lost her serve four times in the final set. "I know exactly what I have to do but I am not using my brain.
"I just didn't take control of my head. I lost my temper. I had to slow down and I couldn't do the right things. I just went more and more crazy.
"I have a game plan, I step on to the court and do completely the opposite. Even my coach left the court because he says, 'It makes no sense sitting here because you do none of the things, so better to lose and do your own thing'."
Progress
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva, left well placed by Safina's demise and Tuesday's exit of Venus Williams, cruised to a 6-3 6-2 victory over Japan's Ai Sugiyama.
Other seeds to progress were fifth seed Jelena Jankovic, a 7-5 6-4 winner against Patty Schnyder, seventh-ranked Vera Zvonareva who beat Roberta Vinci 6-3 6-3 and second-seeded Serena Williams who saw off Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 6-2.
Maria Sharapova, working her way back to top form after nine months recovering from shoulder surgery, booked her place in the last 16 with a 6-3 7-6 win over Austria's Sybille Bammer.
Kim Clijsters, another former world number one making a comeback, got the better of a tussle with ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Russia, battling through 7-5 4-6 6-1.
However Caroline Wozniacki, seeded eighth, crashed 7-5 6-3 to Jie Zheng, while Lucie Safarova toppled 11th seed Ana Ivanovic 3-6 7-5 6-3.
