Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova exited the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open in the second round already, and compatriots Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova followed her shortly after on Wednesday, in the third round though.

Eighth seed Nadia Petrova lost to unseeded Patty Schnyder at the Premier-level claycourt event. Petrova fought hard, forced and won the second-set tiebreak and even rallied from 4-1 down in the third set, but the Swiss eventually won 6-4 6-7(2) 7-6(5).

Third seed Elena Dementieva took the first set 6-1, but Amelie Mauresmo rallied back to beat the world No.5 1-6 6-4 6-2. The Frenchwoman, who had upset China’s seed No.15 Zheng Jie en route to the third-round encounter with Dementieva, now has a 10-6 career record against the Russian.

Not all Russian players lost on Wednesday: world No.1 Dinara Safina defeated Li Na 6-3 7-6(2), while qualifier Vera Dushevina beat Francesca Schiavone 6-3 4-6 6-2. (photo by our reader Jacob)

Nadia Petrova who was hospitalized with viral meningitis which forced her to withdraw from the ASB Classic in New Zealand is not in hospital any more, as her mother told Russian publication Sport-Express.

Petrova was diagnosed with viral meningitis when she fell ill while training in Buenos Aires. (Tennis.com via On the Baseline, photo: Nadia Petrova's website)

World No.11 Nadia Petrova has been hospitalized with viral meningitis, and won’t play the ASB Classic in New Zealand where she was supposed to start the 2009 tennis season.

"It’s a shame Nadia will not be coming, I know she was looking forward to playing the ASB Classic, but in this situation she is obviously in need of medical care and our thoughts go out to her," says ASB Classic tournament director Brenda Perry.

Besides the ASB Classic, Petrova might miss some other scheduled tournaments in Australia too.

In 2007, Petrova won two titles: Cincinnati and Quebec City. (source: On the Baseline, photo: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

Russian top seed Nadia Petrova fought back from a set and a break down to get past Bethanie Mattek 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the final of the Bell Challenge in Quebec City, Canada.

American world No.43 Mattek, probably most famous for her fashion sense, failed to win her first WTA title in her premier appearance in a WTA final. World No.11 Petrova, on the other hand, clinched her ninth career title and her second this season after winning in Cincinnati in August.

The Bell Challenge was the last tournament on the regular WTA schedule. The tennis season ends next week with the Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha where the top eight players of the year will compete for a share of the prize money of $4,550,000.

Second seed Jelena Jankovic defeated Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-3 in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final to win her second title in two weeks. The victory earned the world No.2 her eighth career title and a shiny red Porsche Carrera 911.

The 23-year-old Serb, who will on Monday return to No.1 in the rankings, also won the China Open last week and now has three titles this season.

Jankovic broke Petrova’s serve in the opening game to take the first set. In the second she led 3-1 with three break points for 4-1, but the 2006 Stuttgart champion Petrova tied at 3-3. Afterward, however, Jankovic regrouped and took the next three games for the title.

Jankovic improved her career record against the world No.18 Petrova to 6-2, with now three of those victories coming at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Before beating Nadia Petrova, Jankovic had defeated Alona Bondarenko, seed No.7 Vera Zvonareva, and sixth-seeded Venus Williams at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. (photo via Yahoo)