Ailing Jankovic, Safina to miss Wimbledon warmup

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BIRMINGHAM, England -- Defending champion Jelena Jankovic and French Open runner-up Dinara Safina will not compete at the DFS Classic that starts Monday.

Jankovic withdrew from the Wimbledon warmup with the same arm injury that caused the Serb to fly home to Belgrade after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals of the French Open.

Safina withdrew with a bad back. The 14th-ranked Russian was the fourth top-20 player to withdraw from the tournament, including Maria Sharapova who decided to skip the tournament due to a shoulder problem.

Jankovic beat Sharapova in last year's final and went on to reach the final at Den Bosch, The Netherlands, the following week. She entered Wimbledon tired and lost to Marion Bartoli in the last 16.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

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