WTA Tour - Jankovic into quarters after Beijing delay

Eurosport - Thu, 25 Sep 09:22:00 2008

Top seed Jelena Jankovic reached the quarter-finals of the China Open with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak, while Zheng Jie restored some pride for the host nation.

TENNIS 2008 Jelena Jankovic GETTY IMAGES - 0

The Serbian world number two will meet seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who was pushed all the way in her 6-1 0-6 7-5 win over tenacious Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn.

On a cool evening in Beijing that saw both players sporting long sleeves, Jankovic was the quickest to warm up, taking an early break to wrap up the first set and then racing to a 5-2 lead in the second.

World number 39 Wozniak denied the US Open finalist a quick victory, however, breaking back twice to level at 5-5, before surrendering the match with a string of unforced errors.

Hantuchova shivered for two hours and 12 minutes in an entertaining battle with Tanasugarn, rating it one of the toughest matches of her career.

"I even felt fog on my mouth and my legs couldn't move in the second set. It was a wise decision to wear (sweatpants) in the third set," she said.

After watching four of her compatriots bundled out of the first round on Tuesday, China's Zheng battled a head cold to upset world number 10 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

Zheng, who carried over a first-set 3-0 lead after rain stopped play on Tuesday, wasted no time pressing her advantage, winning 6-2 6-3 to reach the second round.

In the men's competition, fifth seed Fernando Verdasco set up an all-Spanish second round meeting with former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero after overpowering American Bobby Reynolds 6-3 6-3.

After enjoying first-round byes, former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and top seed David Ferrer of Spain will bid for quarter-final places on Thursday.

Reuters

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  1. jj...u pravu su ovi strangeri...pocinjes da se foliras sa medical time out-ima i raspravama...igraj tenis, be pro like serena :-)

    From Laura, on Sat 27 Sep 9:15AM

  2. Well said jpatins, it detracts from her tennis and I usually avoid watching her through a whole match though it usually provides plenty of time for tea breaks, raising a family, etc. Still a little too defensive for me and can't see her winning a grand slam if she has to play the Williams sisters. Women's tennis is a little dull at the moment. I see she was briefly number 1 with the lowest accrued points of any number 1 and she holds the record for the highest number of matches abandoned when losing, makes you think doesn't it!

    From Atomheartbrother, on Fri 26 Sep 11:04PM

  3. Everybody knows Jelena Jankovic, she is the drama queen of the tennis courts, what can we expect? She has to stop those things, they are not funny all the time. Cīmon Jelena, just play tennis.

    From Jailson, on Fri 26 Sep 2:06PM

  4. Didn't manage to read any in depth match reports but did JJ manage to get through it without her customary medical time outs and whining?

    From Atomheartbrother, on Fri 26 Sep 7:27AM
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