Jankovic first big name casualty

Tennis – Australian Open: Jelena Jankovic became the highest seeded casualty of the Australian Open so far today as she crashed…

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia hits a return to Peng Shuai of China during her second round defeat at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Photograph: Petar Kujundzic/Reuters
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia hits a return to Peng Shuai of China during her second round defeat at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Photograph: Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

Tennis – Australian Open:Jelena Jankovic became the highest seeded casualty of the Australian Open so far today as she crashed out to China's Shuai Peng in round two.

The seventh seed started well enough, racing into a 4-1 lead, but things soon went downhill as she succumbed 7-6 (7/3) 6-3 on the Hisense Arena in Melbourne.

The former world number one produced a total of 39 unforced errors - almost twice the number of her opponent - with many coming at key moments.

Jankovic said she felt "rusty" afterwards - it was only her third match of the season - but admitted her opponent was a deserved winner.

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"I just played some wrong shots, had a wrong selection of shots at important moments of the match and that cost me. At the end, my opponent took her opportunities and was the better one."

Asked if she felt she could every return to the summit of the game where she sat back in 2008, the Serb responded: "I always believe in myself. The most important thing is that I'm healthy because I can just work on my game and really work on my fitness.

"Then the more I play, the better I get. I think I will be able to come back and even be a stronger and a better player. I think I can do it. It's just a matter of really believing in myself and going out on the court and, you know, just keep working hard.

"I will be there. I'm not giving up. I know I can be good and I can beat those players and I can come back to the top."

Meanwhile, after such a victory, world number 54 Peng will be hopeful of emulating her compatriots Li Na and Zheng Jie, both of whom made the semi-finals in Melbourne 12 months ago.

Second seed Vera Zvonareva avoided such an upset but not before being given a fright by teenager Bojana Jovanovski.

Zvonareva, who has reached the final of the last two Grand Slam events, looked in real danger when she was outplayed in the first set by the 19-year-old, but she hit back impressively to win 2-6 6-3 6-1.

Kim Clijsters will have the chance to avenge her embarrassing loss to Nadia Petrova at last year's Australian Open after setting up a repeat clash with the Russian.

Clijsters won just one game in their 2010 third-round encounter - her heaviest defeat at a Grand Slam event - and will expect to do much better when they meet at the weekend.

The third-seeded Belgian was in cruise control on Thursday as she eased past Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 6-3, while Petrova, seeded 13, lost just five games against home hope Alicia Molik.

Asked if she still reflected on that humbling by Petrova, Clijsters insisted: "Actually, no, I don't.

"I don't think I've ever played a match like that. So it was very easy in a way to also forget about it. If that would be something that would occur more often, it would be in my mind. I would feel like I had to do something about it. But, no, I don't."

Sam Stosur delighted the home fans on the Rod Laver Arena during the night session.

Seeking to become the first home player to win the Australian Open title since Chris O'Neil in 1978, Stosur enjoyed a routine 6-3 6-2 victory over Vera Dushevina.

The fifth seed encountered few problems against her Russian opponent. A soiltary break of serve was enough for her to claim the opening set, before Stosur broke three times in a one-sided second.

Last year's French Open finalist, who cracked 26 winners to her opponent's 13, will next face Petra Kvitova.

Earlier in the day, seeds Shahar Peer (10), Agnieszka Radwanska (12) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (16) all progressed with straight-sets victories.

However, several of the lower-ranked seeds made their exit with Maria Kirilenko (18), Alisa Kleybanova (24) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (26) all losing in the second round.