World number three Elena Dementieva was the latest top-ranked player to make an early exit from the Pan Pacific Open.
Third seed falls at first hurdle in Tokyo
World number three Elena Dementieva was the latest top-ranked player to make an early exit from the Pan Pacific Open following her loss to Kateryna Bondarenko.
Reigning Olympic champion Dementieva was knocked out after a 6-2 6-7 6-1 defeat in the second round - and with Caroline Wozniacki retiring hurt and Vera Zvonareva also crashing out the Tokyo tournament has now lost its top six seeds.
Dementieva, Wozniacki and Zvonareva follow world number one Dinara Safina, second seed Venus Williams and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who were also tripped up in their opening matches after receiving first-round byes.
One player who does not appear to be having problems is former world number one Maria Sharapova, who sailed into the last 16 in her second-round 6-0 6-1 blitz of Australia's Samantha Stosur.
Bad calls
Dementieva, who played under a closed centre court roof, had not conceded a set to Ukraine opponent Bondarenko in their previous four meetings and she claimed debatable line calls were partly to blame for her defeat.
"There were way too many bad calls from the chair umpire today," she said.
"I'm surprised they don't have a challenge system at such a big event."
Despite losing out in the second round at the US Open, the Russian had a fine run on North American hard-courts in the run-up to the final Grand Slam of the year, which she claims hindered her performance in Tokyo Bay.
"I played too many matches in the US Open series," she added.
"I would have liked to have an extra week to get refreshed for this event. I just didn't have the energy."
Strong run
Seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic remains the top-ranked player left in the competition after the Serbian beat Sabine Lisicki 6-3 4-6 6-2.
And tournament organisers breathed a sigh of relief as Sharapova continued her strong run by overpowering 12th seed Stosur in just 57 minutes.
The Russian now faces compatriot Alisa Kleybanova, who knocked out Zvonareva 3-6 6-4 6-2.
Meanwhile, Bondarenko will meet China's Li Na in the third round after the 15th seed beat Russia's Vera Dushevina 7-5 6-0.
Fourteenth seed Marion Bartoli reached the last 16 with her 6-4 6-2 blitz of Frenchwoman Aravene Rezai and will now face Williams' conqueror Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
