WTA Tour - Jankovic downs Venus in Stuttgart

Eurosport - Sun, 05 Oct 14:33:00 2008

Jelena Jankovic won a fierce scrap with Venus Williams 6-7 7-5 6-2 to set up a Stuttgart Grand Prix final against Nadia Petrova.

TENNIS Jelena Jankovic Serbia - 0

Serb Jankovic, seeded second but already assured of taking over as world number one on Monday, edged a classic encounter with the sixth-seeded American in two hours 45 minutes, despite being hampered by a foot problem.

Unseeded Russian Petrova's 6-4 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the opening semi-final was straightforward by comparison.

Petrova, the 2006 champion, caught Azarenka cold, building a 4-0 lead before her unseeded opponent fought back.

Azarenka recovered one break and had Petrova under pressure again in her next service game before two huge aces pulled the Russian out of trouble.

Petrova then took control of the second set and clinched victory in 90 minutes.

Jankovic had come through a tough match against Vera Zvonareva of Russia on Friday night and at the start of Saturday's semi-final Williams looked fresher.

The American snatched the first set 10-8 on a tiebreak and it was all Jankovic could do to hang on in the second.

She made the breakthrough in game 12 by forcing a set-point against serve. Williams saved it before a terrible forehand into the net gave Jankovic another chance.

The Serb dashed across court to chase down a weak volley and forced a deciding set with a forehand pass that clipped the outside of the line.

Jankovic broke Williams at the start of the third set and saved a series of break points to keep the advantage.

Williams, serving at 2-5, put an approach into the net to give Jankovic two match-points and she took the second of them as the American overhit another approach.

"I needed two injections just to play so it's thanks to my doctor I'm in the final," Jankovic said.

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Reuters

Comment 106 - 125 of 125

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  1. SO LANA 17 IS TOTALLY WRONG YET AGAIN AS KREMLIN CUP HAS 8 SEEDED PLAYERS
    JANKOVIC IS SEED ONE

    SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA IS IN THE OPPOSITE HALF OF THE DRAW FROM JANKOVIC
    IN HER SAME HALF VENUS WAS SEED 6 BEATEN BY PENNETTA TO GIVE JELENA EASY ROUTE NOW
    WAKE UP DARLING

    From tttobyjug, on Tue 7 Oct 7:15PM

  2. SO LANA 17 IS TOTALLY WRONG YET AGAIN AS KREMLIN CUP HAS 8 SEEDED PLAYERS
    JANKOVIC IS SEED ONE

    SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA IS IN THE OPPOSITE HALF OF THE DRAW FROM JANKOVIC
    IN HER SAME HALF VENUS WAS SEED 6 BEATEN BY PENNETTA TO GIVE JELENA EASY ROUTE NOW
    WAKE UP DARLING

    From tttobyjug, on Tue 7 Oct 7:09PM

  3. So Venus is out of the Kremlin Cup!!! What now??

    From Jovana, on Tue 7 Oct 6:43PM

  4. Williams is not seeded player in Moscow and she has to play today like Kuznecova. Only Jankovic, Dementieva, Safina and Ivanovic are seeded players and that's why they don't play until wensday.

    From lana17g, on Tue 7 Oct 1:49PM

  5. yes agreed wiiliams shud be reinstated today .. skrap old faulty system

    From serrrannos, on Tue 7 Oct 7:27AM

  6. it has even taken jelena about 24 tournaments to gain a few extra points to come out on top

    while other girls have similar points totals from only 15 tournaments

    the ranking system badly needs overhaul to stop more joker interlopers being appointed

    From errattic.results, on Tue 7 Oct 7:22AM

  7. at least 6 other girls in the TOP 10 ranks have far better records in top flite tournaments
    but v. sensibly they play less often to conserve their health & higher playing standards

    From errattic.results, on Tue 7 Oct 7:17AM

  8. well a real live sad joker has been allocated interloper position No 1 for a short while
    Can you imagine a No 1 claimant who has NEVER won any important Tennis event
    could not even gain Olympic last 8 == quite unbelievable sad time for world tennis
    She merely played lots of low ranked tournaments to harvest money + points

    while the genuine No 1 was simply deposed by injury NOT opponents skill

    From errattic.results, on Tue 7 Oct 7:14AM

  9. Vic you should not comment any more you are so uneducated (tipical stupid plane american) who can only generalize things. Wiliams sisters are great but there time is gone and now is time for some new faces to show and Jankovic is much more educated and classy than a lot of others tennis players. She is maybe not the best talente ever but she plays with her brain unlike Williams sisters who plays on there strenght and speed.

    From pusiga1, on Mon 6 Oct 10:23PM

  10. the existing ranking system appears 2B a little faulty Ha Ha

    At No 1 a girl who has NEVER won any important tennis title ha ha

    while at No 8 an Olympic Medalist with numerous Grand Slam titles to her name

    the system seems rather faulty

    From vvagabond747, on Mon 6 Oct 5:41PM

  11. the existing ranking system appears 2B a little faulty Ha Ha

    At No 1 a girl who has NEVER won any important tennis title ha ha

    while at No 8 an Olympic Medalist with numerous Grand Slam titles to her name

    the system seems rather faulty

    From vvagabond747, on Mon 6 Oct 5:40PM

  12. dear Dinara Safina to become top player---please

    From Lucie D, on Mon 6 Oct 11:01AM

  13. sad situation looks like jelenar is just stand in sub No 1 till the real top ranker returns

    From tiptoptoe77, on Mon 6 Oct 10:01AM

  14. WHY DID JELENAR DECIDE TO USE SUCH VERY UNSPORTING TACTICS IN SEMI FINAL
    afraid she would not win if she played fair

    From tiptoptoe77, on Mon 6 Oct 10:00AM

  15. Dinara would be close, but not close enough to be No. 1

    From Jovana, on Sun 5 Oct 5:31PM

  16. Dinara still doesnt have enough points even when she wins a Tier I tournament!!!

    From Jovana, on Sun 5 Oct 5:31PM

  17. Dinara cannot win be No. 1 even if she wins Kremlin. She doesnt have enough points!!!

    From Jovana, on Sun 5 Oct 4:13PM

  18. Bravo JELENA !!! You showed them what class and elegance is all about!!!

    From Jovana, on Sun 5 Oct 4:10PM

  19. Venus is classy! And it shows u just how manners are so important that's why she has won so many Geand Slams and the other one has not and will not! Well we all know how Jankovic's country has been through the ringer with all the war and stuff so she can be excused! U cannot buy class besides looking like a drugged up tranny of Serbia! It's great to be American!

    From Vic M, on Sun 5 Oct 2:38PM

  20. yekaterinabelle, NO, SHE CAN NOT!

    From Emilija Jana, on Sun 5 Oct 2:37PM
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