Jelena Jankovic vs Shuai Peng – Quarterfinal Preview: Western & Southern Open 2011
Friday, day-6 of the Western and Southern Open 2011 will see the former world number 1, Jelena Jankovic compete with the Chinese Shuai Peng at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio.
The two have taken to the courts previously and are extremely familiar with style, method of technique and skills of one another. They battled each other eight times prior to this event and the Serb has had a 6-2 lead in their
head-to-head.
It is likely that the 26-year-old Serb will bag yet another victory over her old time rival. As out of the eight matches played against each other, five were on hard courts, out of those five; three have been won by Jankovic and
the remaining two by Peng.
The first time the two took up the gauntlet was on the grass courts of the AEGON Classic held in Birmingham, UK, where Jankovic had won in straight sets.
Fate crossed their paths several times after that but Jankovic was the one who succeeded in achieving flawless victory up until 2008. However, after that the Peng made a comeback in 2009, during the Beijing championships where
she finally won her unveiling match against Jankovic.
However, one should not rule out the fact that earlier this year when they contested against each other at the Australian Open Peng won the match in straight sets of 7-6(3), 6-3. Peng also won the last two matches against her
olden adversary.
Many tennis pundits and critics are of the view that the 25-year-old has caught on to her opponent’s game play. However, some tennis gurus also assume that the 26-year old Jankovic has a competitive edge over Peng due to her successive
wins.
Standing at world number 15 the Chinese (Peng) has played a total of 473 matches in her professional career out which she has won 300. This year she has had record of winning 45 matches out of the 62 she played. The holder of one
doubles title, Peng saw her career high ranking on the 15th of August 2011, which is also her current ranking. This year she has played three Grand Slams and has had an experience of playing world top 50 players. Her last run was at the Rogers Cup
in Toronto; where she lost the second round to world number 6 Li Na.
Standing at world number 14, the 26-year-old Jankovic has been out of her top form but this year she contested in 8 hard surface games, out of which she has won none but managed to qualify to the second, third and the fourth rounds
of the events.
She played all the three grand slams taken place this year and is also expected to play the fourth and the final grand slam of the year; the US Open. Kicking off with the Australian Open she was able to win the first round but
lost in the second to Peng. Then moving on to the French Open, here she was outfoxed by Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round. At Wimbledon, which is the second last grand slam of the year, she lost the match to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the first round.
Nevertheless, Jankovic was once a very strong and competitive player and still is if only she puts her heart, mind and soul into it. This year she also won the Oscar of Popularity for female athletes in Serbia award and has 12
WTA tiles, the last won she bagged in 2010.
Although, both the players look extremely strong it is expected that Jankovic will move past the Chinese in three sets.
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