2011 French Open: Jelena Jankovic dispatches Alona Bondarenko in the first round
Last year’s semi-finalist, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia made a convincing start to her 2011 French Open campaign, as she registered a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine and reached the second round of
the tournament.
Jankovic took just 65 minutes to win the match, as she thumped big winners in both sets, while Bondarenko continued to struggle with errors. The Serbian looked confident on her service game as she served 65 percent of her first
serves in, hammered four aces and crafted 17 winners to take the match 6-3, 6-1 and marched ahead in the second round of the tournament.
Jankovic made the most of the double-faults, committed by her Ukrainian opponent and brought in her well-timed shots to win the first set. The Serb easily organized as she took perfect help from her first serves and mustered easy
points. Jankovic earned the first set with a 6-2 score line.
The trend continued in the final set too, as Jankovic won the set in 37 minutes, as she won seven winners. Bondarenko on the other hand, perpetrated 14 unforced errors and never looked happy out there. Jankovic converted three
of nine break points, while Bondarenko did not have any break point in the second set. Jankovic controlled the proceedings very well and raced to a 5-0 lead, before Bondarenko could win a single game. Finally, Jankovic grabbed a comprehensive victory by winning
a final set with a 6-1 score line.
Jankovic earned her straight sets victory by virtue of four aces and seventeen winners. Furthermore, she scored a whopping 93 percent of points on her first serve and 47 percent of points on conversion. In comparison, Bondarenko
did not hit a single ace and committed three double faults to make things easier for the Serb.
The world number ten will continue her 2011 Roland Garros campaign against Vera Dushevina later in the event. The Serbian ace has a good 25-12 win loss record this year, but unfortunately she could not win a single WTA title this
year. In contrast, Bondarenko has a 7-10 win loss mark.
Jankovic leads the head-to-head record with a 5-1. They last locked horns in Cincinnati last year, where Jankovic was pushed to three sets by the Ukrainian. Well, this time Dushevina needs to go beyond that to upset the former
world number one.
Jankovic is not looking on her very best at the moment, as the Serbian lost to Sofia Arvidsson and Caroline Wozniacki in Brussels and Rome respectively. But the Serbian pro has already done a lot well at Roland Garros in her prior
eighth appearances, so we can expect another easy win for the great woman, here in the city of lights.
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