Jelena Jankovic defeats Anastasia Rodionova; breezes into the second round at Brussels Ladies Open
A former world number one, Jelena Jankovic trashed Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets to cruise into the second round of the 2011 Brussels Ladies Open. Serbia’s Jankovic earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory over the 29-year-old
Rodionova on Tuesday.
Fourth seed in the tournament and ranked tenth in the Sony Ericsson WTA Premier rankings, Jankovic won for the third straight time and extended her lead to 3-0 against the Aussie in the head-to-head series.
26-year-old Serb sealed the deal by registering a straight set victory in one hour and thirty-three minutes in her opening round match at Royal Primerose Tennis Club.
Jankovic, whose form dipped after reaching the final at Monterrey in February, entered confidently in the first set and held her opening serve plausibly. Despite clobbering two double faults and producing a poor first serve share
of 48 percent, she pocketed an amazing 92 percent win on it. The Serb saved the only breakpoint faced and converted two out of four breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to clinch the opener with a 6-2 win.
She carried her winning ways into the second set and spectacularly held her serve in the first game. The seeded Serb committed many double faults, produced a lower first serve share and even lost her serve one. However, she saved
seven out of eight breakpoints faced and converted two out of eleven breakpoint opportunities to her advantage to win the decider with a 6-3 score line.
"The conditions were tough today - windy, cooler. It was different than what I've been used to the last few weeks," the beaming Jankovic said. "But I just tried to focus and keep my eye on the ball and I'm happy to get through
to the next round."
The Aussie, on the other hand, had better stats in the match but she failed to capitalise on Jankovic’s errors to eventually exit in the opening round of this red clay court tournament. She is standing on a drastic on-going season
and carried her form in this WTA Premier event as well.
Next up for the Serb is the Swede Sofia Arvidsson who dumped American Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets to reach this spot.
"I played against her a long time ago, maybe in the year 2008," Jankovic said. "Sofia's a good player. I just need to keep playing my game and we'll see."
Jankovic has won both times on her previous meeting against the Swede but Arvidsson pushed the Serb to her limits on both occasions.
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