Jelena Jankovic crashes out of Rogers Cup 2010
Serbian player Jelena Jankovic was knocked out by Czech Republic’s Iveta Benesova in the second round match of the Rogers Cup Women’s competition on Tuesday with a match score of 7-6 (3) and 6-3.
Jelena has only participated in a total of four matches in three championships in August after taking a two week break as a result of her ankle injury which she says has improved.
“I didn’t really play like a top five player here”, said Jankovic, who has never captured a Rogers Cup title so far in her career. “My game hasn’t been up to the mark over the last few championships”.
The United States Open tournament is the only major competition where Jelena has made her way into the final round where she eventually lost to current world number one Serena Williams in 2008.
Jankovic is however hopeful that she will find her rhythm and form prior to the start of the U.S. Open at the end of this month in New York.
“I actually wanted to participate in a couple of matches prior to the start of the US Open however sadly this didn’t happen and so I will now just try my level best to give my hundred percent and give a tough time to all my opponents on the hard courts at the Flushing Meadows”, she added.
Benesova, who is currently ranked at the 75th spot won her sixth clash in the last five days on Tuesday as a result of defeating number one seed Jelena Jankovic.
“I am feeling great at the moment as I haven’t had a very successful season so far”, said Benesova, who upgraded her this year’s singles record to 17-18. “It was required for my confidence”.
It was definitely one of the greatest victories of Benesova’s 12 year professional tennis career.
“This is surely the biggest win of my professional career, I’m really excited,” Benesova said. “It was a superb match for me.”
As far as Jankovic is concerned, she started off quite well, grabbing her first two service games. However, Benesova came back strongly and won the last three points to win the set.
In other action on Tuesday, seventh seed Marion Bartoli secured a comfortable two setter victory in a total of 69 minutes. The final match score was 6-1, 6-0.
Vera Zvonareva, on the other hand, who is seeded at the eight spot to win the title, defeated Yaroslava Shvedova in yesterday’s clash in Montreal in a time period of 67 minutes. The final match score read 6-2, 6-1.
Eleventh seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova ousted compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with a final match score of 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Kuznetsova remained at the top five spot in the world from 2006 to 2009, reaching a career high ranking of number two in the world back in 2007. However, she entered Montreal as a 16th ranked player in the world.
Kuznetsova after the victory while commenting on her present form said, “I think my game is once again regaining its lost rhythm and I am once again playing aggressively like before. I feel that if I continue to play in the similar fashion I will soon recapture my top five spot in the world.”
10th seed Victoria Azarenka from Belarus also defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in a total of two sets on Tuesday. The final match score was 6-1, 6-1 where as the fifteen seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta thrashed Daniela Hantuchova in a two setter clash. Nadia Petrova, the eighteen seeded Russian also managed to beat Lucie Safarova with a final match score of 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in the last game of the day, Russia’s Maria Kirilenko, who was the runners up in 2008, defeated Slovakian player Dominika Cibulkova in a total of two sets. The final match score was 6-0, 6-3.
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