Wimbledon - Women: Jankovic crashes out
Eurosport - Sun, 28 Jun 11:50:00 2009
Former world number one Jelena Jankovic, battling in vain to cope with searing heat, was sent tumbling out of Wimbledon by American qualifier Melanie Oudin.
In the biggest shock of the women's draw so far, the statuesque Serb could not cope with the baking conditions at the All England Club, succumbing 6-7 7-5 6-2 to the overjoyed teenager who refused to be overawed by the sixth seed.
It was a huge achievement for Oudin, playing only her third grand slam event. Dogged determination won the day for a player ranked 124 in the world and who had to fight through three rounds of the qualifying tournament just to get to Wimbledon.
The 17-year-old Oudin kept pumping herself up with cries of "Come On" and made light of her relative inexperience.
Jankovic, bidding to the reach the last 16 at Wimbledon for the fourth year in a row, never once looked at ease on a number three court that felt more like Florida than London on a scorchingly hot afternoon with temperatures near 30 Celsius.
The Serb, her first serve constantly deserting her, was fortunate to land the first set. Oudin fought back from 5-3 down, only to lose a thrilling tiebreak 10-8.
Then Jankovic called for a medical timeout at the end of the first set. She was wrapped in icepacks on her neck and legs while a doctor and a physiotherapist checked her condition.
In an equally intriguing second set, Oudin levelled the match with a feisty display of determination. Outplaying Jankovic in many interminable baseline rallies, she took the deciding set comfortably for a shock victory.
Oudin, whose idol is former world number one Justine Henin, whooped with delight and punched the air after landing the spoils on an afternoon of sun-baked drama she will never forget.
Oudin will next face Polish 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat China's Li Na, seeded 19, 6-4 7-5.
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova also was dumped out, losing her third round match to unseeded German Sabine Lisicki 6-2 7-5.
The Russian broke Lisicki's serve to go ahead at the start but never really seemed to get into full flow, making a string of errors to gift the world number 41 the opener in 37 minutes.
As the sky over Court One grew increasingly grey the fifth seed fought back from 5-2 down in the second, saving four match points. But Kuznetsova was ultimately outclassed by the 19-year-old, hitting the ball wide to give her opponent an unexpected win.
Lisicki, who went out in the first round on her Wimbledon debut last year, will face ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark for a place in the quarter-finals.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Wozniacki reached the fourth round for the first time as the Danish teenager defeated Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2 6-2.
Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic marched into the fourth round with a 7-5 6-2 win over Australian Samantha Stosur .
Breaking Stosur in the first game, the 13th-seeded Serbian got off to a strong start but her opponent refused to go down without a fight.
Stosur, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros earlier this month, broke back to level at 5-5 before she netted the ball to lose the first set.
Ivanovic, seeking to add a Wimbledon crown to the French Open title she won last year, dominated in the second. She surged into a 4-0 lead before sealing victory on her second match point with a powerful serve.
She will play five-times champion Venus Williams, who powered through by crushing Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0 6-4.
The 29-year-old American allowed the world number 34 a brief glimmer of hope in the second set when some uncharacteristic forehand errors crept into her game but she then pounced on her opponent's slow serve to break for 5-4.
Suarez Navarro, who knocked Williams out of the Australian Open in the second round in January, sealed her fate after one hour and 21 minutes when she hit a forehand wide.
World number one Dinara Safina sailed into the second week at Wimbledon for the first time, defeating Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens 7-5 6-1.
The Russian, three times a grand slam runner-up but never a winner, had a fight on her hands in the opening set of the third round match but overwhelmed the world number 110 in the second.
With thunder rumbling overhead, Flipkens got her only set point at 5-4 in the first which she squandered. Safina finally broke in the 11th game and served out to take a 1-0 lead.
The Russian went into overdrive as the heavens threatened to open on the new number two show court but the rain just held off and she swept to an easy 6-1 second set clincher.
Safina next faces former champion Amelie Mauresmo of France, after the 17th seed eased past 15th seed Flavia Pennetta 7-5 6-3..
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Comment 41 - 60 of 60
JJ not well in her match she said she had terrible period pain us women know all about that don't we.
yes serbian pigs like serbian clown jakovic
This forum is full of pigs here.
comment 52 peter i totally agree wit ur comments!...murray has not been tested. and d draw was intended dat way!!! how typical
Hey Stine, my observations are not different from yours. No wonder that this event was dubbed as the most boring wimbleson ever. As easy as killing a turkey using a shotgun, Fedex will get his 15th GS. The only thing that excites me is seeing the different reactions of fans and people around here on Feds gayish pre game outfit. Fed sacrificed his wimbledon warm up to contemplate on the design which he done himself.
I don't think Ana Ivanovic will win. She is playing against Venus Williams,and i think we all know who is better! But,there were some suprising things like this one! I mean,Jelena (#6) was beaten by an little girl! This Wimbledon is pretty amazing....
Is there any admin on this site?
Sick things like this ,manu...'' uses shouldn't be in this forum.Please react!
JJ played not so bad match.. but Oudin was outstanding in second and third set especially.. she minimized errors during the match, and last few games played almost flawlessly.. pretty impressive stuff, the way this girl moves, great defensive play - then fast transform in offense.. looked like gaining experience rapidly during the match !
..you could say it is not hard to manage this against passive Jankovic.. but JJ is not playing hard punches, rarely she does, but she distributes balls tactically good.. I have almost no objection to way she played.. but obviously her strokes lacked some power yesterday (it was way stronger in previous round, with best serve from JJ for a long time) due to problems she was having.
.. so what she imagine to do, couldn’t pass due to lack of strength, also Oudin showed some very good defensive skills !
nevertheless, even not fully fit , she had her chances, and didn’t take them.. old story for JJ !
but besides this early breakdown, I still think this is step forward for JJ after all what was happening from beginning `09. .. not god, but better..
.. and it will be better if she manages to place together something in her head, and her team.. some change is needed.. now coach for better serve is good thing.. more changes, or to really take some rest ?
can Oudin repeat brilliant third set ? Obviously really talented girl, and remind me on someone ;-)
Murray's draw is stage managed by all England club. In this way he can only be tested if he manages to get pass all the unseeded to get to the final. In fact his half of the draw is meant for no 1 seeds and not Murray's . Anyway if he can produce the greatest shock in WIMBLDON HISTORY in recent times, that's it. Goodluck. The Queen is arranging MBE for Murray
am so upset seeing from the year 2009 poor start of JJ in the tennis circuit...seems she has getting bad 2 worst performance and very dssapointing to watch. i think there is no excuses to be accepted in all major gs she played...she should work out harder or else she will be always a great loser.....!
the wimbledon committee is obviously giving more imprtance to maria sharapova than those players like JJ and mauresmo, is that special treatment to sharapova why they are puting her in a big court like ( court #1)? since she now unseeded player? while , mauresmo at JJ are considering seeded players and have placed them in a small courts? is that all about business tactics to get more tickets to be sold as for sharavopa matches? be fair WTA organisers, u have to place where those players exactly where they can play....REMEMBER that sharapova is now unseeded player.
Jankovic just seems to moan all the time, stop moaning luv and start playing. Well done to Sabine, I watched all that match and she looked like the one who had just won a slam, not Svetlana,fab stuff!! Sabine for the semis! I want desperately to like Azarenka as her game is excellent, its just that noise she makes, like a horse. Will have to watch her with the sound off x
What surprises me in Andy Murrays part of the draw is while players like Llyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, Wawrinka are been tested with players that have hot services Murray on the other hand have been playing with players who are serving double faults, it makes you to wonder how was that part of the draw arranged, if this was Federer draw I know people would not have rested with all kind of insults, but now I see the reason why they already picked Murray to get to the finals. The only known player in his draw was Ernest Gulbis (Lat), who is Robert Kendric? Who for God’s own name is Viktor Troicki they all have one thing in common smiling feeling so happy to be playing in the new open roof as if that is not enough he Murray will then be meeting another player who also does not have hot service, a player who also have been enjoying the draw without been tested and at the end of the day when Murray gets to the final they will say he played so hard, played so hard? When he will be meeting a tired and worn out Llyton H or Andy Roddick in the Semis, what a very funny tournament well arranged ANDY MURRAY WILL START PLAYING HIS WIMBLEDON MATCHES WHEN HE GETS TO THE SEMIS TO PLAY A TIRED OR WORN OUT LLYTON H OR ANDY RODDICK
I am glad that Ana is elevating form ,I hope it can be enough for Venus ,we will see. Regarding Perry's comment it is not worth to value just to say simple mind.He can wear eye patch[leather] or not his view is very limited he does not see aside just one sided like those who use winkers.
Serbian.If I were you,I would get myself a dictionary.Otherwise you will always look like a less use winker!
Karl-Heinz.What rumour?
M.A.N.U. =S.W.I.N.E.-F.L.U
manu_fans_are_scum_bags, you are the biggest stupid person on this site!
i wish you a nice swine flu!!!!
you crack HITLER!!!!
ana ivanovic for the win! it will be difficult but i have faith in you anci! this is definitely love.
EVEN A RETIRED TIM HINMAN WOULD HAVE STROLLED INTO THE FINAL IF PLACED ON MURRAYS DRAW, WHAT? AND NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT, INFACT THEY ARE ALL ARGUING ABOUT BEEN SCOTISH AND BRITISH, JUST WHAT THEY NEED TO DISTRACT PEOPLE FROM WHAT IS GOING ON, WHO CARES IF HE IS BRITISH IS THIS THE OLYMPIC, IF HE WINS THIS TOURNAMENT IT IS NOT GOING TO THE BRITISH SPORT ASSOCIATION OR THE SCOTTISH SPORT ASSOCIATION IT IS GOING TO HIS HOUSE. GET THAT INTO YOUR HEADS AND STOP THIS BRITISH AND SCOTISH ARGUMENT
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