Jelena Jankovic couldn’t survive Petra Martic’s blitz in the semi-final – Malaysian Open
Sixth seed Serb, Jelena Jankovic, faces an upset at the hands of the Croatian qualifier, Petra Martic, in the semi-final of the BMW Malaysian Open. In a rain-delayed semi-final battle that was played over a couple of days, the
Croatian dumped the former world number one in a gruelling three-setter; winning the battle in three hours and six minutes with scores of 6(5)-7, 7-5, 7-6(5).
Jankovic was disappointed at losing such a close match. In a post-match interview, she stated, “Physically it was tough for both of us, playing in this heat, but all the credit to her. Her serving was consistent while mine broke
down. It could have gone either way, but there's only one winner and the better one won."
Martic started the match with a successful serve hold but was the first to lose the breakpoint in the fourth game. She did well to break serve back. Another exchange of breakthroughs kept the scores together and the Croatian finally
held her serve to tie the scores at 4-4.
Another trade of breakpoints between the two pushed the scores at 6-6 with a tie-breaker round into play. Jankovic utilized her experience to take an early mini-break with a perfectly placed drop shot. She was lucky to sneak ahead
in the opening set.
The second set was started by Jankovic in an emphatic fashion; breaking her opponent’s serve in the second game and taking 2-0. However, Martic broke serve back in the following game to diminish the trail and did well to hold her
serve and tie the scores at 2-2. Both players capitalized on their serves in the following games to push the scores at 5-5.
A sudden outbreak from the Croatian took the Serb by surprise. Jankovic had no backup plan to tackle the onslaught and lost serve at the critical stage of the set. She tried hard to win the break back in the following game but
failed to do so.
The final set was into play and Martic was once again forced to comeback from behind having the lost the initial serve game. She did well to break back in the seventh game and tied the scores with a successful serve hold. No more
breakpoints were played in the match and scores slowly progressed to 6-6.
Another tie-breaker round was enforced and this time, Martic was fast enough to recover for a delicately placed drop shot and recovered to win the point and bag an early mini-break. She held that till the end of the round to complete
an upset.
Two qualifiers, Su-Wei Hsieh and Petra Martic, will take on each other in the grand finale of the tournament.
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