MOSCOW, Oct 10: World No 1 Jelena Jankovic survived a scare before reaching the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win over Vera Dushevina on Thursday.
The Serb, who replaced Serena Williams at the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, was in danger of becoming the third high-profile player to bow out of the $2.3 million tournament.
Jankovic, making her Moscow debut, lost the first set and was 0-2 down in the second before finding her range to subdue the 77th-ranked Russian.
Jankovic said she had been ready to quit the match after losing her serve early in the second set.
“I just couldn’t do it anymore at that point as I felt a pain in the back,” she told reporters.
“I was ready to shake hands and finish the match but I said to myself, ‘Just try every point, try your best’.
“I don’t know how I managed to win today,” she said.
Dushevina, 22, was unhappy with the way her opponent had conducted herself during the match.
“You always have to be on guard playing Jankovic because you never know what’s going to happen with her,” said the Russian.
“She always complains that she has pain in her arm or leg or back or whatever.
“Today in one of the games on her serve she threw her racket and went to the bench calling for a trainer. Then she comes back and hits an ace, I don’t think it’s good sportsmanship. And she always argues with umpires.”
The women’s field, billed as the strongest in the Kremlin Cup’s 19-year history with most of the world’s leading players taking part, is already without ousted Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and French Open winner Ana Ivanovic.
Jankovic, fresh from winning her third title of the year in Stuttgart on Sunday, now faces unseeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who followed her victory over Williams on Tuesday by beating Russian Ekaterina Makarova 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva crushed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-0, setting up a quarter-final duel with another unseeded Slovak, Dominika Cibulkova, who upset Ivanovic on Wednesday.
Russia’s Nadia Petrova also advanced after Caroline Wozniacki retired because of breathing problems. The Danish teenager had her blood pressure checked late in the first set before calling it quits while trailing 6-4, 3-2.
Men’s top seed Nikolay Davydenko, bidding for his third Kremlin Cup title in a row and fourth in the last five years, also barely broke sweat, easing to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
The Russian world No 5 will now take on his Davis Cup team-mate, seventh seed Marat Safin, who prevailed over Julien Benneteau of France 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
Thursday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):
Men’s singles:
Second round: 4-Paul-Henri Mathieu (France) bt Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-0); 7-Marat Safin (Russia) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2; Mischa Zverev (Germany) bt Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1; 1-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-1, 6-1; Igor Kunitsyn (Russia) bt Robby Ginepri (US) 6-4, 6-3; Viktor Troicki (Serbia) beat 8-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-3, 6-4.
Women’s singles:
Second round: 1-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Vera Dushevina (Russia) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2; Flavia Pennetta (Italy) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; 7-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-1, 6-0; Nadia Petrova (Russia) bt Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-4, 3-2 – Wozniacki retired.
DEL PORTO WITHDRAWS
VIENNA: Third seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina withdrew from the Vienna Open on Thursday because of a niggling toe injury.
The world No 9, who won his first four ATP titles in a brilliant consecutive run in July and August, has been struggling with a broken nail on his right foot since the US Open.
After suffering further inflammation overnight the 20-year-old Del Potro pulled out of his second-round match with Philipp Kohlschreiber, allowing the German through to a quarter-final meeting with Spanish fifth seed Fernando Verdasco.
French eighth seed Gael Monfils also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Czech Radek Stepanek.
In the top half of the draw unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez defeated Colombian Santiago Giraldo 7-6, 6-3.Lopez, whose only previous ATP singles title came in Vienna four years ago, next meets local favourite Juergen Melzer.
The unseeded Melzer, the last Austrian left in the competition, saw off former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 7-6, 6-3.
Results:
Second round: 8-Gael Monfils (France) bt Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 6-4, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt 3-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) – walkover; Feliciano Lopez (Spain) bt Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Jurgen Melzer (Austria) bt Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.—Reuters
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