Jelena Jankovic survives first round match against Simona Halep
Jelena Jankovic has done little to inspire confidence in her US Open title chances with an error-strewn victory – she committed 48 unforced errors in total – over Simona Halep in the first round, but the 2008 finalist can take solace in the fact that she’s at least survived to fight another match.
Jankovic had arrived in New York with an air of vulnerability around her after a disappointing North American hard-court preparation for the year’s final major, a third-round loss (after gaining a first-round bye) to 114th ranked Agkul Amanmuradova in Cincinnati sandwiched between losses in her opening matches in San Diego and Montreal.
Prior to San Diego, the Serb had retired from the previous two tournaments she had played: calling time on her fourth-round match against eventual runner-up Vera Zvonareva at Wimbledon citing back problems, and then prematurely ending her second-round match at Portoroz during July as a result of an ankle injury.
Jankovic made a strong start to the match, at least on the scoreboard, with the fourth seed taking a 3-0 lead over her 96th-ranked opponent in the first set on Arthur Ashe Stadium today, before unforced errors and two double faults handed Halep the break back and games were back on serve at 3-2, with the Serb’s unforced error count already in double figures.
A mistake-free game followed for Jankovic, and with it her second break of the match as she once again put some distance between herself and the 18-year-old challenger at the other end of the court.
The former world No. 1, however, seemed intent on keeping Halep in the match, as she handed the Romanian a double break-point chance with her fourth double fault of the match, before another error put games back on serve.
Jankovic then broke again, but as Halep grew in confidence against the world No. 5’s serve she again returned the favour, this time with a little help from the net cord in what was to be the deciding point of the game.
But with service holds proving elusive, Jankovic closed out the set with another break in the next game.
The second set started with, predictably enough, a break of serve but for the first time in the match Halep was able to hold her serve in the following game to consolidate the break, and then back it up with another break of serve, and then another hold to take a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Jankovic though had other ideas about where the match was heading, and was able to draw on her considerable Grand Slam experience to work her way back into the set as Halep began to feel the heat in just the second match of her career at a major – having lost to eventual runner-up Sam Stosur in the first round of the French Open after qualifying for the tournament earlier this year.
But as the tide turned in the fourth seed’s favour, Halep held her nerve to serve out the set 6-4, levelling the match with an ace.
Halep began the third set with yet another break of serve, but Jankovic soon replied with a break of her own before the match tightened up and the pair headed into the crucial ninth game of the set level at 4-4.
But as the match passed the two hour mark, it was Halep who refused to be overwhelmed by her opponent’s big hitting, as she traded blows with Jankovic and won, opening up a double break-point chance and taking the game, and a chance to serve for the match, when the Serb sent the ball long.
It took Jankovic’s A-game too to keep her in the contest as Halep again refused to wilt under pressure, chasing down almost everything the seeded player could throw at her before Jankovic claimed the break-back to level at 5-5.
After battling to stay in the match the previous game, Jankovic added two more unforced errors to the pile to commence her next service game, before Halep conceded four straight points to leave her opponent just one game away from victory.
After fighting so hard for almost two hours and twenty minutes, Halep was ultimately broken to love in the final game of the match, as Jankovic avoided the upset by the slimmest of margins.
Tags: