Fourth seed Elena Dementieva and fifth seed Jelena Jankovic were upset victims on Thursday at the US Open while top-ranked Dinara Safina struggled but is now the only seed still in her quarter of the draw.

Russian stars Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova avoided the trend of shockers and breezed into the third round, but could feel the stress as Flushing Meadows favorites began to fall at Arthur Ashe Stadium.