Jelena Jankovic eases past Jill Craybas into the last eight – Malaysian Open 2012
In a late night encounter in the BMW Malaysian Open, former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, dumped the oldest contestant of the tournament, Jill Craybas, in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. She marches on to the quarter-final stage of
the tournament.
The match only lasted 65 minutes and Jankovic spared just a couple of games for the 37-years-old American who enjoyed her tour to Kuala Lumpur. In a post-match interview, Jankovic stated, “I never expected the match to be that
easy. I did what I do for every match. I went in focused and played an aggressive match. I had to play hard and the match wasn't as easy as it looked. It is never easy playing in these hot conditions too."
In their previous six meeting, both players had won three matches apiece so it was not thought to be such a straight forward contest for the Serb. The history between the two is almost twelve years old as they first met in the
Advanta Championships in Nov 2000. Craybas was young and Jankovic was a teen at that time but now the situation was different.
The second seed wildcard entrant won a couple of breakpoints in the opening set to kick-off the match. She was leading 4-0 in the first twenty minutes and allowed just a couple of serve holds to her opponent before registering
a thumping triumph in the opening set.
Nothing was going in favour of the American who was not equipped well enough to meet such an aggressive contestant. She is probably on the verge of retirement and enjoys her game so there were no nervous moments in the match. She
smiled after each good rally and praised her opponent’s class.
The pace of the Serb did a job for her. Her returns were so quick that the American veteran was not able to run fast enough to reach them. A bagel for the Serb will definitely boost her morale and strengthen her belief in her game
style.
Jankovic is up against the sixth seed Japanese participant, Ayumi Morita, in the quarter-final of the tournament and will probably look to cruise her way to the last four. Morita is yet to face a tough tie in this tournament. If
she manages to upset the Serb, it will definitely give her chance to enhance her odds of taking her maiden title in New Year. It is going to be an enthralling battle to say the least.
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