BEIJING, Sept 25: World number two Jelena Jankovic continued her bid for the top women’s ranking with an opening win in the China Open on Wednesday as local favourite Zheng Jie restored wounded local pride.
Top seed Jankovic will play Daniela Hantuchova in the quarter-finals in Beijing after beating Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 7-5 on a rain-interrupted day.
A tournament win here for Jankovic, who had a brief spell as world number one in August, would take her to within a handful of points of Serena Williams at the top of the women’s game.
The Serbian was pushed hard by her powerful opponent in a hard-fought second set but eventually prevailed.In a see-saw match earlier in the evening Hantuchova, the Slovakian seventh seed, beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 0-6, 7-5.
The world number 13 looked set for a routine victory after taking the first set easily but her Thai opponent came back strongly.
Play was suspended until mid-afternoon due to steady rain, but when the action got underway, China’s Zheng completed a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Agnieszka Radwanska.
Her win came after four players from the host nation crashed out of the women’s draw on Tuesday, including the country’s top player Li Na.
In other first-round matches played on Wednesday, men’s fifth seed Fernando Verdasco eased through against Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-3 and US eighth seed Sam Querrey survived a scare, battling back against compatriot Jesse Levine to win 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
Jankovic and fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic are the top two seeds at the 600,000-dollar China Open, with both chasing the women’s number one spot.
Results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s:
First round: Dudi Sela (Israel) bt Nicolas Devilder (France) 6-4, 6-3; Ivo Minar (Czech Republic) bt Lee Hyung-Taik (Korea) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2; Jean-Claude Scherrer (Switzerland) bt Sun Peng (China) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7); 8-Sam Querrey (US) bt Jesse Levine (US) 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4); Brendan Evans (US) bt Roko Karanusic (Croatia) 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (12-10); Go Soeda (Japan) bt Bai Yan (China) 6-4, 7-5; 5-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) bt Bobby Reynolds (US) 6-3, 6-3.
Women’s:
First round: Zheng Jie (China) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-2, 6-3.
Second round: 7-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 6-1, 0-6, 7-5; 1-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) 6-3, 7-5.
TSONGA ADVANCES
BANGKOK: Second-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga struggled through a tough opening match to beat Czech Lukas Dlouhy 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 at the Thailand Open on Wednesday.
Still lacking fitness after undergoing knee surgery three months ago, Tsonga looked jaded throughout the two-hour match but sealed victory with a 7-1 win in a final-set tiebreak.
Since he reached the final of the Australian Open in January, Tsonga’s season has been blighted by injury, causing him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. He has played only last month’s US Open since his knee operation.
Fellow Frenchman and fourth-seed Gael Monfils also progressed after a 6-4, 7-6 win over American Robert Kendrick.
The lanky Monfils injured his leg after falling over several times during the match but was pinning his hopes on a speedy recovery.
In first-round matches, Serb Marko Djokovic suffered a drubbing on his ATP main draw debut.
He was beaten 6-2, 6-0 by fifth seed Jarkko Nieminen.
Italian Simone Bolelli saw off Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, Mischa Zverev beat Australia’s Robert Smeets 6-4, 6-4 and Serb Viktor Troicki advanced after beating Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 7-6, 6-2.
Results:
Second round: 4-Gael Monfils (France) bt Robert Kendrick (US) 6-4, 7-6(4); 2-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) bt Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) 7-6(9), 3-6, 7-6(1).
First round: Mischa Zverev (Germany) bt Robert Smeets (Australia) 6-4, 6-4; 5-Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) bt Marko Djokovic (Serbia) 6-2, 6-0; Simone Bolelli (Italy) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 6-3, 6-3; Viktor Troicki (Serbia) bt Fabrice Santoro (France) 7-6(4), 6-2; 8-Jurgen Melzer (Austria) bt Donald Young (US) 6-3, 6-3.—Agencies
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