French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova says she deserved to lose her fourth round clash at the Australian Open after crashing out 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to Nadia Petrova on Sunday.

Petrova beat her second Grand Slam champion in succession when she bundled out Kuznetsova in a shade over two hours on the Hisense Arena after destroying US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the third round.

“I thought to myself after that (Clijsters) win that I have to stay focused for the next one,” said Petrova, the Russian 19th seed.

“I felt like my motivation, my concentration was on the same level.”

Kuznetsova, the world number three, struggled in the third round to beat German qualifier Angelique Kerber in a match that started late on Friday night and finished early Saturday morning.

She complained about the scheduling after that match, but refused to use it as an excuse for her loss to Petrova.

“I have to go to bed at four in the morning. Next day, of course, I wake up early because I’m used to waking up at nine,” she said.

“It changes things, but to play good and try to win Grand Slams, you have to be able to perform and to pass through difficult moments like this.

“Definitely it was not the best schedule for me, but it’s not an excuse at all. I had all the chances to win today, I just didn’t use them - that’s final.”

Kuznetsova appeared distracted in the first set, losing her first service game and struggling to make an impression after that.

She fought back in the second set and looked far more composed, but despite breaking to lead 1-0 in the third, that was as good as it got as the 27-year-old Petrova stormed through the set without dropping another game.

“I was struggling with finding my rhythm all match, but in the second set I managed to find it and I started to play better,” Kuznetsova said.

“And I cannot stop at one-love (in the third). I did stop.

“I cannot allow that in fourth round to do that to myself. I didn’t deserve to win.”

Kuznetsova had a 5-1 record over Petrova heading into the match but conceded she had been outplayed.

“It’s the best I’ve seen her play in the last two years I think, but I didn’t deserve to win because I was not playing good enough,” she said.

The win put Petrova, who was once ranked number three in the world, into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for only the second time, having lost in 2006 to Maria Sharapova.

“I’m working hard and digging deep, because I know there’s still a lot to accomplish,” Petrova said.

“I want to quit tennis knowing that I’ve done everything possible, that I developed as much as I could, and I gave 100 percent.”