2011 Sony Ericsson Open: Andrea Petkovic vs. Jelena Jankovic Preview
Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic and German tennis pro Andrea Petkovic will face each other as previous unknown entities at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinal today, playing their first match against each other. Both
players are seeded at this year’s Miami event, with Jankovic leading the field as sixth seed and Petkovic bringing up the rear as twenty-first seed.
Currently ranked World Number 7, Jelena Jankovic has participated at the Miami tournament nine times since 2001. The player produced her best results at the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, when she was seeded fourth. The Serb defeated
players such as Sofia Arvidsson, Lucie Safarova, Jie Zheng, tenth seed Elena Dementieva and nineteenth seed Vera Zvonareva before falling to eighth seed Serena Williams at the title match of the event.
This year, Jankovic began her run in the second round by defeating Romanian pro Monica Niculescu in straight sets before advancing to the third round against Klara Zakopalova. She ousted the Czech pro in straight sets yet again,
setting up a fourth round match against Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain. Jankovic ousted her Spanish opponent to set up the quarterfinal confrontation against Petkovic.
Andrea Petkovic of Germany, on the other hand, has only taken part in the Sony Ericsson Open twice before. Her first showing at the tournament was in 2009, when she was ranked World Number 213. She participated in the qualifying
rounds, but could not make it to the main draw.
However, the player had advanced significantly on the Women’s Tennis Association [WTA] rankings, entering the charts at World Number 44. Her first opponent in the opening round was Australian tennis player Anastasia Rodionova,
whom she defeated in straight sets. This placed her in the second round against tenth seed Flavia Pennetta, whom she defeated with a bagel in the third set. Petkovic’s Miami run was put to an end by Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round. She has
already extended her best run at the tournament to the quarterfinals by her performance this year.
Petkovic began her 2011 Sony Ericsson Open campaign in the second round, kicking off her run with a straight sets defeat of American qualifier Jamie Hampton. Her next opponent was Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic; Petkovic
managed another easy victory over the player to advance to a fourth round meeting with World Number 1 Caroline Wozniacki. In a surprise victory, the twenty-first seed upset top seed Wozniacki in three sets to set up a quarterfinal meeting with sixth seed Jelena
Jankovic.
Jankovic is the more experienced player, and seems likely to win the match. However, Petkovic specializes in unexpected and surprising wins and may turn the tables on her Serbian opponent. The winner of the quarterfinal match will
advance to the semi-final against either Maria Sharapova or Alexandra Dulgheru.
Tags: