Jelena Jankovic vs. Anastasija Sevastova - Monterrey Open quarterfinal preview
Top seed, Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, takes on fifth seed, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, in the quarter-final of the Whirlpool Monterrey Open on Friday. An epic battle is predicted as the top seeded players face each other in the race to the semi-finals.
Jankovic’s route to the quarter-final was an easy one as none of her opponents posed a serious threat to her. Sybille Bammer, her second round opponent, surrendered the game to Jankovic at 6-3, 6-4, in barely 90 minutes. Sevastova on the other hand had to fight for her place. She ousted Alize Cornet 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a stiff contest, when she had to recover from a one set early deficit, to book a berth in the quarter-finals.
Winner of 12 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) titles, the 26-year-old Serb has been in a decent form this year. After her early ejections from the Medibank International Championships and the Australian Open, Jankovic bounced back by reaching the semi-final of the Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was beaten by the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki.
Jankovic carried on her momentum in the Qatar Ladies Open tournament and once again ended her voyage in the semi-final at the hands of Vera Zvonareva. The Monterrey Open is the third straight quarter-final she is playing and it is quite likely that the Serb will win this one to advance to the semi-final once again.
World number 38 Sevastova is playing her first tournament since the Australian Open this year. The Latvian shocked the tennis world when she defeated the 21st seed Yanina Wickmayer at the Aussie Open. Later, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round.
As Jankovic is enjoying her sublime form, Sevastova also had a confidence booster from her Australian Open campaign. Her influential victories in the initial rounds of the Monterrey Open hint her as a tough competitor for Jankovic.
The two quarter-finalists have round about similar serve accuracies in the tournament. The difference among both contestants lies in their serve breaks. Sevastova got 19 opportunities to break her opponents’ serve in two matches and she availed seven of those. Jankovic’s earlier competitors awarded her a total of 24 break points and the Serb won 10.
The break points winning percentage of Jankovic is better than Sevastova bit they also signify the weaknesses of her opponents, who gave away such generous opportunities for serve breaks. The Serb must be aware of the fact that Sevastova had proven to be tight-fisted in awarding serve breaks to her opponents. She will need to craft opportunities of her own in the quarter-final matchup.
The 26-year-old Serb has won her earlier matches of the tournament in straight sets and faced limited resistance from the opponents. So it can be said that Jankovic’s proficiency under pressure situation is still to be tested in the tournament. Sevastova’s aggressive start to the quarter-final can give her an early advantage in the game and a chance to pressure the top seed.
Sevastova has won just one WTA title in her four year professional career and is eyeing to cash in her opportunity at the Monterrey Open. She just needs two more victories to have a shot at the championship.
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