Dementieva exits at Eastbourne

Top-seeded Elena Dementieva was defeated 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (4) by Virginie Razzano at the Eastbourne International on Wednesday, joining the long list of ousted seeds.

The Russian claimed just 29 percent of the points in the first set, and although she recovered to win a ragged second set in windy conditions, her French opponent clinched the upset in a tiebreaker.

After two rounds, only two seeds remain in the women's draw and three in the men's draw.

Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was beaten 7-6 (8), 7-6 (13) by Ekaterina Makarova of Russia after she built commanding leads in each set. After the match she was at a loss to understand why.

"It's a cruel match to lose," Mauresmo said. "This one was not for me I guess. I had opportunities and was not able to take them, not able to do the right shot at the right time. I took chances which didn't work. I came to the net but she did better than me.

"The main thing is going to be to forget about this match and to focus on next week."

Mauresmo went down an early break in the first set but leveled at 5-5 and built a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker before dropping it 10-8. She then built a 4-0 lead in the second set and held five points in the tiebreaker before also losing that 15-13.

Nadia Petrova smashed her racket in frustration as she was forced to retire against fellow Russian Vera Dushevina with a back injury. The seventh seed had won the first set 7-5 but lost the opening game of the second set before quitting.

Li Na of China also quit with an abdominal strain while trailing 3-1 against defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

On the men's side, second-seeded Dmitry Tursunov came within two points of defeat against British qualifier Alex Bogdanovic, before edging the 2 hour, 33-minute match 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (5).

"He's a difficult player to play on a fast surface," Tursunov said. "He's got a good serve, and if it goes in it's difficult to do anything with it. So it was definitely tough."

Sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey failed to advance when he was beaten 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 by Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.

AP