Jankovic rallies past Ivanovic
Source: Agencies |
May 13, 2010, Thursday
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SEVENTH seed Jelena Jankovic won a tense Serbian battle in the Madrid Masters second round yesterday when she came from a set down to beat Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
In a match littered with errors on the clay of Manolo Santana center court, both players struggled to hold serve with Jankovic, wearing a bright green dress, breaking her orange-clad compatriot 11 times and losing her own serve on eight occasions.
Jankovic, the world No. 4 and runner-up in Rome last week when she beat Serena and Venus Williams, will play Spaniard Anabel Medina-Garrigues for a place in the quarterfinals.
French Open champion in 2008, Ivanovic has won just one Tier II tournament since that breakthrough grand slam triumph and has slipped well down the rankings but a run to the Rome semifinals lifted her to 42nd.
World No. 1 and top seed Serena Williams was playing 16th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova for a place in the quarterfinals later in the day.
If Venus Williams, the fourth seed, beats Italian Francesca Schiavone, the American will rise to No. 2 in the rankings, the first time since May 2003 the sisters have been ranked first and second.
In another second-round match, China's Peng Shuai lost to Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain despite winning the first set, 6-1, 6-7, 3-6.
On Tuesday, 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 2-6, 3-6 in an upset by 26th-ranked Alona Bondarenko.
The Ukrainian will play Li Na of China in the third round. The 13th-seeded Li outlasted Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
In another shock result, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania beat sixth seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
On the men's side, world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland began the defense of his crown in the Spanish capital with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) morale-boosting dismissal of Germany's Benjamin Becker in the tournament's second round.
"The moment the match started I felt great," Federer, who won the first point of the match on his serve with a powerful smash, said at a news conference.
"I was hitting the ball fine and this center court just feels right to me. I've obviously never lost on this court so that gives me confidence and I think that showed today in my game," the Swiss player said.
The 28-year-old will be hoping to keep up his run in Madrid as he has not claimed a title since lifting his 16th grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January.
His claycourt season has failed to spark to life ahead of this month's French Open, where he is the champion. He was knocked out in the second round of the Rome Masters by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis and fell to Albert Montanes of Spain in the semifinals at Estoril last weekend.
Federer will play compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, who won his match against Leonardo Mayer yesterday, after the Argentine retired while down 4-6, 2-4.
Sixth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco came safely through his second-round match against Ivo Karlovic, beating the big-serving Croat 7-6 (5), 6-3.
In a match littered with errors on the clay of Manolo Santana center court, both players struggled to hold serve with Jankovic, wearing a bright green dress, breaking her orange-clad compatriot 11 times and losing her own serve on eight occasions.
Jankovic, the world No. 4 and runner-up in Rome last week when she beat Serena and Venus Williams, will play Spaniard Anabel Medina-Garrigues for a place in the quarterfinals.
French Open champion in 2008, Ivanovic has won just one Tier II tournament since that breakthrough grand slam triumph and has slipped well down the rankings but a run to the Rome semifinals lifted her to 42nd.
World No. 1 and top seed Serena Williams was playing 16th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova for a place in the quarterfinals later in the day.
If Venus Williams, the fourth seed, beats Italian Francesca Schiavone, the American will rise to No. 2 in the rankings, the first time since May 2003 the sisters have been ranked first and second.
In another second-round match, China's Peng Shuai lost to Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain despite winning the first set, 6-1, 6-7, 3-6.
On Tuesday, 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 2-6, 3-6 in an upset by 26th-ranked Alona Bondarenko.
The Ukrainian will play Li Na of China in the third round. The 13th-seeded Li outlasted Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
In another shock result, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania beat sixth seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
On the men's side, world No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland began the defense of his crown in the Spanish capital with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) morale-boosting dismissal of Germany's Benjamin Becker in the tournament's second round.
"The moment the match started I felt great," Federer, who won the first point of the match on his serve with a powerful smash, said at a news conference.
"I was hitting the ball fine and this center court just feels right to me. I've obviously never lost on this court so that gives me confidence and I think that showed today in my game," the Swiss player said.
The 28-year-old will be hoping to keep up his run in Madrid as he has not claimed a title since lifting his 16th grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January.
His claycourt season has failed to spark to life ahead of this month's French Open, where he is the champion. He was knocked out in the second round of the Rome Masters by Latvia's Ernests Gulbis and fell to Albert Montanes of Spain in the semifinals at Estoril last weekend.
Federer will play compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, who won his match against Leonardo Mayer yesterday, after the Argentine retired while down 4-6, 2-4.
Sixth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco came safely through his second-round match against Ivo Karlovic, beating the big-serving Croat 7-6 (5), 6-3.
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