Jelena Jankovic wins her opening match against Laura Robson – e-Boks Open 2012
Former world number one, Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, cruised past the British teenager, Laura Robson, in the opening round of the e-Boks Open on Wednesday. The third seed Serb took one hour and 56 minutes of play to wind up the two-setter
at 6-4, 7-6(8), marching into the second round of the tournament with authority.
Jankovic didn’t have to work hard to take the better of the 18-year-old Briton’s error-ridden game play and raced through the sets with ease. She faced some late resistance from Robson in the second set but went on with his wining
impetus to carve out her 13th victory of the running season in style. It was the third time that Robson had faced a straight sets defeat at the hands of the Serbian veteran. She lost in the opening rounds of 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the
2012 Australian Open to Jankovic, now trailing 0-3 deficit in the all-time head-to-head series.
The third seed Serb delivered just 57 per cent of her first serve on target, spilling out 10 double faults but she skilfully compensated for it by winning 33 out of 52 points in the match. Jankovic converted six of her eight break
chances in the game, while Robson came up with five out of nine break point conversions to finish on the losing side in the end.
"I found it pretty tough moving from clay to indoor hard, where the ball goes very low and fast, so I found the adjustment quite difficult," Jankovic said in her post match reviews. "Laura played really well, but I knew I had to
hang in there. I was a little nervous as it was my first match here, but I'm glad I managed to come through with the win."
Jankovic will play against the Russian wildcard entrant, Yulia Putintseva, in the second round of the e-Boks Open later this week. The talented Russian registered a straight sets victory over the local wildcard player, Karen Barbat,
6-4, 7-5, in the opening round to take on the third seed Jankovic for a place in the quarter-finals. Top seed defending champion, Caroline Wozniacki and the second seeded German contender, Angelique Kerber, also cleared the opening round with ease.
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