Jelena Jankovic defeats Bethanie Mattek-Sands; sails into the fourth round – French Open 2011
Tenth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia thrashed out American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2, 6-2 here on Friday to book her place in the fourth round of 2011 Roland Garros.
Ranked 10th in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, Jankovic made a bright start to the match as she broke the serve very early in the opening set. The American, on the other hand, looked a bit out sorts as her forehand and backhand shots landed outside the line on several occasions.
The Serbian had no problems securing her service games as she took a reasonable game score lead in the set. Playing in a lovely drop shot, she set up a couple of set points for herself and then converted the first one to take the set score lead 1-0.
The second set also followed a pretty similar trend with Jankovic breaking her opponent to establish complete control over the contest. Displaying some exciting tennis right through the set, Jankovic earned an impassable lead in the set. She fired a lovely serve ace to extend her lead to 5-2 in the set and then took her next service game with ease to end the match in straight sets.
Serving with extreme accuracy throughout the match, Jankovic achieved an impressive 70 per cent first serve conversion. She was brave enough to take her chances on her second serve as well as she claimed 71 per cent of the points on her second serve.
Mattek-Sands had a weak serve as she let her opponent take control of rallies. She also made a whopping 30 unforced errors in the match. Having a difficult day at the French Open, she lost both of her singles and doubles match at the clay courts in Paris.
Talking to the press after her defeat, the American said, "I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that are having worse days than me, so I can't complain too much."
Mattek-Sand hurt her finger as well during the set and had to be treated by her trainer. The cut on her finger may have played a role in her defeat as she looked very disturbed after the incident.
"I ripped open my finger and it was actually bleeding," said Mattek-Sands, “I was getting some blood on my grip and everything."
Jankovic will face 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in her next match-up at the tournament. The Serbian has been doing really well on the tour since the start of the season and has given a number of considerable performances. The former world number one will be hoping to lift her first Grand Slam title and earn valuable points towards WTA rankings.
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