Safina crashes out at hands of teenager Kvitova

NEW YORK // Dinara Safina had a tennis meltdown on Saturday, enraged by a snub over her court assignment, unable to explain her lacklustre loss to a little-known opponent and desperate for some time off. It was a case of third time unlucky for the top-seeded world No 1 after the Russian fell 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5) to the Czech teenager Petra Kvitova in a third round match, finally losing a three-set contest after already surviving two close encounters.

Safina's status has been a sore point all through the run-up to the tournament, where her top-ranking credentials were questioned given she has yet to win a grand slam title. Safina's saga started with late notification that her match was being moved from the Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the day's schedule had overrun by nearly three hours, to the smaller, 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Court. Safina had been scheduled to start the night's programme on day six of the championships but the organisers moved the match outside to ensure American James Blake and Spanish 14th seed Tommy Robredo, who had been expected to follow next, could start their match simultaneously.

"I'm the number one player in the world, why did they move me?" asked Safina. "This is not an excuse but I don't think it's a fair decision they made. "They came to us at 9.10pm. and just told us, 'We're switching you to Armstrong'. I think it's very unfair to choose [the men's match over us]. Their answer was, 'We prefer a five-set match than a three-set, women's match.'" The officials would have been concerned about completing both matches at a reasonable hour but Safina pointed out that at the 2008 Australian Open, a men's match started very late following a similar backlog.

"In Australia, the guys [Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis] went to play on court at 1am and they didn't move them," she said. That match finished after 4.30am. local time - which is the latest ever finish at a grand slam - and US Open organisers would have been keen to avoid such a scenario on Saturday. However, her first two mistake-ridden, three-set wins at Flushing Meadows had already set the stage for an exit she found hard to explain. "She [Kvitova] likes to be dominant. She doesn't like to move around. I have to move her. I had to get her out of the court. I have everything. I know what to do," she said.

"But I step on the court and I play completely different." Instead Safina played passively, returning many balls down the middle of the court. The fire in her serves was missing, too. Asked why she abandoned her plan, the 23-year-old Safina blamed stress. "Tension, I would say. "Let's say, first set I was too tense. Second set, I let it go. At least there were some emotions. And third set, three match points and I didn't do anything on them. Disappointing. Very disappointing."

Safina said it was her own fault. "From my brain, from my side. Just from my side." The Russian, who has won three tournaments after advancing to eight finals this season, sounded burned out and almost relieved to be gone from the championship. "I guess that there is a little bit of everything. Also just playing, playing, playing... at least sometimes just to work on something. I don't have time for myself to relax and to calm down."

She scoffed though at the idea she would be better off to be unburdened by the weight of the top ranking. "How can you feel relief if you lose the spot, No 1 in the world, your dream. Everything is in the head, because here everything knows how to do the right thing," she said, pointing her index finger at her temple. "It knows and it stops me." * Reuters