Jankovic out from Italian Open

ROME: Two-time defending champion Jelena Jankovic was among the losers at the Italian Open women''s tennis tournament in Rome.

The tournament''s third seed lost her quarterfinal match 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) to Russia''s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the seventh seed and last week''s champion at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.

Reigning world No. 1 and top-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia beat Spain''s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; fourth-seeded Venus Williams ripped 10th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-2; and sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat 16th-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Friday''s semifinals are Safina-Williams and Kuznetsova-Azarenka.