WTA Tour - Jankovic survives scare

Eurosport - Fri, 10 Oct 14:08:00 2008

World number one Jelena Jankovic survived a scare before reaching the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals with a 6-7 6-3 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina.

TENNIS elena jankovich serbia kremlin cup - 0

The Serb, who replaced Serena Williams at the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, was in real danger of becoming the third high-profile player to bow out of the $2.3 million tournament.

Jankovic, making her Moscow debut, lost the first set and was 0-2 down in the second before finding her range and subdue the 77th-ranked Russian.

The women's field, which was built as the strongest in the Kremlin Cup's 19-year history with most of the world's leading players taking part, already lost Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and French Open winner Ana Ivanovic.

Jankovic, fresh from winning her third title of the year in Stuttgart on Sunday, faces unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who followed her victory over Williams on Tuesday by beating Russian Ekaterina Makarova 3-6 6-4 6-4.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva crushed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1 6-0, setting up a quarter-final duel with another unseeded Slovak, Dominika Cibulkova, who upset Ivanovic on Wednesday.

Russia's Nadia Petrova also advanced after Caroline Wozniacki retired because of breathing problems. The Danish teenager had her blood pressure checked late in the first set before calling it quits while trailing 6-4 3-2.

Men's top seed Nikolay Davydenko, bidding for his third Kremlin Cup title in a row and a fourth in the last five years, also barely broke a sweat, easing to a 6-1 6-1 victory over Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The Russian world number five will now take on his Davis Cup team mate, seventh seed Marat Safin, who prevailed over Julien Benneteau of France 6-4 0-6 6-2.

Watch LIVE coverage of the Kremlin Cup on British Eurosport or via the Eurosport Player. British Eurosport is available in the UK on Sky channel 410 and Virgin Media channel 521, Eurosport 2 is on Sky channel 411 and Virgin Media channel 525.

Reuters

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  1. I just said she achived in less then 3 weeks, more than enought for normall tennis fun. Who likes good Tennis, no mether who is playing !
    She is definitly better then Dementieva currently, but not when she is tired and has real knee injury. THE END !

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 8:21PM

  2. well done igor ! preparing excuses in advance .,.! Are you QUITE sure they will be needed .,?
    don't overlook the crucial """injury"" time ploy

    From tttobyjug, on Fri 10 Oct 8:16PM

  3. Even if you hate her, 10 wins in a row in 18 days ! ... oh it must be luck , or she was drunk, or her mother ;-)

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 8:14PM

  4. Yee "strategic injury" ! Jelena is obiously tired, and if she looses tomorrow from Dementieva, you haters will be sooooo happy !

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 8:13PM

  5. that was a neat comment earlier .!..! --simple JJ is from the great land of the millions unwashed --{Joke}

    From tttobyjug, on Fri 10 Oct 8:13PM

  6. Even if you hate her, 10 wins in a row in 18 days, ... oh it must be luck , or she was drunk, or her mother ;-)

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 8:11PM

  7. Yee "strategic injury" ! Jelena is obiously tired, and if she looses tomorrow from Dementieva, you haters will be sooooo happy !

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 8:10PM

  8. well done Alison you have merriitted great interest and displayed expert knowledge of the game

    From tttobyjug, on Fri 10 Oct 8:02PM

  9. we shall definitely expect a strategic "injury" from JJ in her next match should things not go her way .! Ha Ha

    From tttobyjug, on Fri 10 Oct 8:00PM

  10. yes quite correct Igor we agree JJ has a severe behaviour problem so abusive to opponents
    encouraging followers to scream & abuse opponents during contests
    only successful in lower grade TIER 2 cheaper tournaments its very sad

    From tttobyjug, on Fri 10 Oct 7:54PM

  11. before I thought this is some normall site, with normall people !
    Jelana just play your game ! You showed enought for me, and all of your fans. For a long long time I'v been tracking your game. And thee is no player in the world with such a charm and charisma like you !
    But after this noncence spitting here, I just wish you to keep destroying your oponents like you are doing now ! This lussers will not be quite even then, but who cares ! Whole world see you as a great player, but you just started to role !

    From Igor K, on Fri 10 Oct 7:40PM

  12. When it gets right down to it, why are so many of you upset because JJ is doing so well at the moment? Is it personal jealousy because your Heroine isn't?

    You can hardly call yourself Tennis fans if you react so vehemently against players working their tails off to de well on the Tour.

    From Phillipa, on Fri 10 Oct 7:16PM

  13. phillipa please read item 125

    From Lucie D, on Fri 10 Oct 5:40PM

  14. filipa135 please buy the latest WTA handbook to correct your innaccurate info

    From Lucie D, on Fri 10 Oct 5:39PM

  15. zzoeland/126. That's all very well, but Tennis is a sport for tennis fans...all over the world. The Girls travel, Spectators watch, the Orgamizers are happy. 22 Tournaments is a lot, but its also a great showing of worldwide Tennis. I assume you mean 2007 when Sharapova only played 13, of which she only won 1. That was the year of humiliation and embarrassment.. No other top ten player got beaten by so many lower ranks players and qualifiers than Sharapova.
    And her record this year wasn't really much better. After the AO, she never played against another top ten player right up to Montreal, so as regards comparitive performance....there isn't any.

    From Phillipa, on Fri 10 Oct 5:29PM

  16. wot a sad result for us & Italiano champ

    From errattic.results, on Fri 10 Oct 5:23PM

  17. I forgive you. Let us hope we can continue conversating on good terms in the future, and let's hope others on this forum follow this example. :)
    Peace.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 10 Oct 5:09PM

  18. BEAUTY QUEEN DINARA SAFINA SEEMS AHEAD AT TIME OF WRITING
    HOPE SHE CAN ALSO REACH FINAL STAGE

    From errattic.results, on Fri 10 Oct 5:07PM

  19. that's the way it is, alek. going forward, please don't give comment on the opponent of your idol, whoever she is. it will just raised anger. if you like your idol then give credit on her/him, but don't follow it with another thing that can hurt anyone else that suffered the comment. we have right to defense our idol as well. apology accepted. forgive me as well to attack you back.

    From okeonyenk, on Fri 10 Oct 5:05PM

  20. Oh my goodness I am so sorry. all the anger built up inside me from reading all this @#$% has just been let out at once. Forgive me okeonyenk, I did not mean all the stuff I said. I have let anger get the better of me, I will not do it again.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 10 Oct 4:58PM
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