Kuznetsova, Jankovic advance at U.S. Open
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia hits a backhand during her second-round match at the U.S. Open. (Stephen Chermin/Associated Press)
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament early Wednesday with a straight-sets win.
Kuznetsova, the No. 3 seed, defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-6 (3), 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, N.Y.
Kuznetsova won the U.S. Open in 2004 and reached the final last year, losing to Justine Henin of Belgium. The surprise retirement of Henin in the spring ensured there will be no repeat champion on the women's side.
"Here you feel special, like I've made it here," Kuznetsova said. "It's an amazing feeling... I just play much more confident."
Second seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia had a tougher outing, defeating Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
"That was a really tough one," said Jankovic, who has reached the fourth round in the first three Grand Slam events this year. "As you can see, I am completely out of breath. She really pushed me to the limit."
Jankovic, who is looking to reach her first Grand Slam final, has been battling a knee injury since Wimbledon and is not in top match condition. That was a factor against Arvidsson, who used a combination of hard forehands and well-placed drop shots to keep Jankovic on her toes.
Despite the strong play of her opponent, Jankovic had an opportunity to end the match much sooner as she took a 3-0 advantage into the second set tiebreak, before surrendering six straight points.
The Serb clawed back with two points on her serve, but ultimately surrendered the second set when she fired wide as she approached the net — drawing an exuberant "Yeah" from Arvidsson.
Jankovic again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a back-and-forth third set that saw both players have trouble holding serve. When the Swede fired long on the final point, Jankovic had her third service break of the third set and eighth overall in the match.
Dementieva continues winning
In other action on Wednesday, No. 5 Elena Dementieva continued her strong play. The Russian, who won gold at the Beijing Olympics, thrashed Pauline Parmentier of France 6-1, 6-2.
Vera Zvonareva was not as fortunate as her Russian countrywomen. Tatiana Perebiynis defeated the No. 8 seed 6-3, 6-3.
Italy's Francesca Schiavone, seeded 25th, was also defeated. Great Britain's Anne Keothavong won their match 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues, the 26th seed, was also eliminated with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to China's Zheng Jie.
American Lindsay Davenport, the 23rd seed, beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3. Davenport, 32, won the U.S. Open in 1997, but she's been hampered recently by a lingering knee injury, which forced her out of the singles tournament at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland were also among the seeds that advanced on Wednesday.
Djokovic injures ankle
On the men's side, third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia suffered a late injury to his left ankle but hung in to defeat France's Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic rolled the ankle in the fourth game of the third set, but he received some on-court treatment and proceeded to close out the match with a break of Clement's serve.
Eighth-seeded Andy Roddick has been battling a shoulder problem, but he still had little difficulty winning his opening match against France's Fabrice Santoro, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. Despite skipping the Beijing Games because of the injury, the American quickly dismissed Santoro, who was the oldest man in the draw at age 35.
Nikolay Davydenko of Russia also moved on to the second round. The No. 5 seed handled Dudi Sela of Israel 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France advanced with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Santiago Ventura of Spain, while Dmitry Tursunov, the 26th seed, upended Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Among the other seeds advancing on the men's side were No. 28 Radek Stepanekof the Czech Republic and No. 30 Marin Cilic of Croatia.
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