Jelena Jankovic hinted she may take a break from tennis after crashing out in the first round of the AEGON International.

Jankovic admitted she is lacking motivation following her 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Anna Chakvetadze at Eastbourne.

The 24-year-old has struggled since topping the world rankings last year and is contemplating some time out after Wimbledon next week.

The world No. 6 said: “I am missing a bit of the motivation I had before. When you have been No. 1 in the world it is not so easy.

“It is a constant battle against yourself. You need to be disciplined so that when you want to eat chocolate you say no to yourself.

“You have to force yourself to go out and practise for four or five hours a day. For that you need to be strong.

“There is lots of playing and travelling and that is not easy. Every player has their ups and downs but when you are not doing well those are the times you need to work hard and come out of it stronger.

“I need a break and maybe not playing for a little bit will get me to the point where I want to play tennis again and want to run after those balls because that is missing at the moment.

“I will play Wimbledon and then after that we will see what I will do.”

Third seed Jankovic made a nightmare start against world No. 31 Chakvetadze but fought back from 5-1 down in the first set to win it on a tie-break.

Chakvetadze saved three break points at 3-3 in the second set before closing out the match in impressive fashion and will now meet Marion Bartoli in the second round after the 2007 Wimbledon finalist beat Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1.

Chakvetadze said: “I haven’t won for a long time so to beat a top ten player is quite important for me. I have struggled a lot recently so this will help my confidence.”

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was another high profile casualty on a day where four of the top five seeds went out.

The 2004 champion crashed back down to earth following her triumph at the French Open two weeks ago as she went down 6-0, 6-3 to world No. 23 Aleksandra Wosniak in less than an hour on centre court.

Wosniak, 21, said: “It is definitely something special to beat the French Open champion. It is another win over a top ten player and I hope to be in the top ten one day so it gives me a lot of confidence.”

Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva lost 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 to 2007 runner-up Amelie Mauresmo on centre court while fifth seed Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to injury.

Defending champion Agnieska Radwanska made sure there were no further upsets as she showed no mercy to younger sister Urszula.

Eighth seed Agnieska, 20, beat her 18-year-old sibling 6-1, 6-1 to set up a second round meeting with Elena Baltacha’s conqueror Na Li in the second round.

First round results: Na Li bt Elena Baltacha 6-2, 7-5; Agnieska Radwanska (8) bt Urszula Radwanska 6-1, 6-1; Anna Chakvetadze bt Jelena Jankovic (3) 6-7, 6-3, 6-2; Marion Bartoli bt Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-1; Sybille Bammer bt Anne Keothavong 6-3, 6-2; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Maria Martinez Sanchez 6-3, 6-7, 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki (6) bt Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova bt Jamila Groth 7-6, 6-1; Amelie Mauresmo bt Vera Zvonereva (4) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Vera Dushevina bt Ai Sugiyama 6-7, 7-5, 6-4; Aleksandra Wozniak bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (2) 6-0, 6-3.