Jankovic defeats Ivanovic, zeroes in on French Open
Ana Ivanovic may have timed her improvement nicely for a tilt at a second French Open title, but Jelena Jankovic continues display stronger claims than her Serbian counterpart that she might have a say about just who is crowned champion at Roland Garros this year.
The second round of the Madrid Open provided the opportunity to measure Ivanovic’s rediscovered ability with the already established form of Jankovic and it was the latter who prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an intriguing match.
It was a battle of former world No. 1’s that, had it taken place just a couple of weeks ago, most would have expected Jankovic to win, and win well. But with Ivanovic reaching the semis of the Italian Open in Rome last week, and carrying a 6-2 winning record against Jankovic into the match, things suddenly weren’t as clear cut.
Rome was the tournament that revived the old friendship between Ivanovic and the clay courts as the 22-year-old claimed her first victory against a top-10 player, Victoria Azarenka, since October 2008 to win the title at the Generali Ladies Linz. After the previous 18 months of dismal form, it was at least some cause for hope.
That hope became optimism as Ivanovic downed world No. 6 Elena Dementieva and 18th ranked Nadia Petrova on her way to the semi-finals, where eventual champion Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez proved her undoing. The result secured Ivanovic a rankings jump of 16 places from No. 58, as she launched back into the top 50.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw, Jankovic had achieved that rare double of defeating both Venus Williams and Serena Williams in the same tournament to book a place in the final, and a return to the top-five.
Back to Madrid, and it was Ivanovic who started full of aggression as she found herself serving for the first set at 5-3. Jankovic, however, wasn’t about to give up without a fight as deuce followed deuce before finally the world No. 4 secured the break and the chance to serve the match back to even terms.
This, however, wasn’t the Ivanovic who crumbles under pressure, let alone deliver any of her own. This Ivanovic is the confident one whose aggressive groundstrokes took her to the top of the world only a couple of years ago.
This Ivanovic is the one who bounces back from a break of serve that scribes may well have been readying themselves to catalogue as a turning point in the match. It didn’t end up that way, as the world No. 42 quickly returned the favour and took the opening set 6-4.
In the second, the Fed Cup teammates settled in for the fight as they traded both breaks of serve and blows from the back of the court, before Jankovic swung the momentum in her favour and squared the match at a set apiece.
The third set began as a battle between a player who thinks she might have the game to win the match, and one who knows she has.
Jankovic’s form since winning the title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March has given her no reason to doubt her ability to close out a match and as Ivanovic retreated into her shell, her Serbian counterpart raced to a 4-0 lead before Ivanovic finally managed to hold serve and get on the scoreboard in the third set.
That was the only game Ivanovic managed as her shaky serve returned to its old tricks and she delivered seven double faults in the set, and won just two points off her second serve, while a business-like Jankovic closed out the match after almost an hour and 50 minutes on court.
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