Jankovic Beats Serena to Reach Australian Open Semi
Posted on January 22, 2008
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Although she was the higher seed, many picked her opponent as the favorite, in light of her three titles at the tournament and an easy win in their most recent encounter. But the result stayed true to the seedings as Jelena Jankovic defeated Serena Williams in straight sets on Tuesday to become the first player to move into the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open.
The two players had much different paths to the quarterfinals: Jankovic struggled through several of her matches, including three-setters against Tamira Paszek (in which she saved three match points but would win 12-10 in the third) and Virginie Razzano (where she led by a set and 4-2 but would end up going to a third anyway). Williams didn't lose more than four games in any set even though she had arguably a tougher draw that included tricky seeds Victoria Azarenka and Nicole Vaidisova.
But none of that mattered as No.3 seed Jankovic and a No.7-seeded Williams did battle; in spite of a slow start that saw her go down 2-0 in the first set and some heavy resistance in the second set that saw her go up a break three times and lose that lead on each occasion, Jankovic always seemed in control of the match, eventually topping the three-time Australian Open champion, 63 64.
"I came out very strong and I was going for my shots; especially my backhand down the line was working unbelievably, and that is how I hurt my opponents," Jankovic said. "I just kept hitting it, and luckily it was all going in and very deep. I just tried to move her and get the balls away from her, and it worked."
"I think I went crazy; I felt like my shots were spraying and I was just kind of all over the place," Williams said. "I didn't really play the game I wanted to play. But Jelena played some good tennis and she hung in there -- she was really solid.
"I felt like I was going to do better than this, but I guess I was wrong. You can't always be right."
Things got shaky in the last game of the match as Williams saved a pair of match points on her serve to take it to deuce, but a double fault gave Jankovic a third chance to win the match, and the aggressive Serb capitalized.
"I got to match point and just tried to hold the racquet in my hand, tried to hit it, just go through the shot. Somehow I won that point, and it was amazing. I did get shaky after the match actually -- I went to her chair, I was so lost -- I didn't even know where I was going, I was shaking so much."
Jankovic's +5 differential for the match - 22 winners to 17 unforced errors - was a far cry from that first round marathon against Paszek, in which she was -21 (45 winners to 66 errors). She maintains that is a distant memory and getting through the first week has now set her up to bring out her very best tennis.
"It's a really scary, scary thought; if you see the match point I saved on the first day, you wouldn't believe I could actually win that point when it started because I kept hitting the balls with slice," Jankovic added. "Being in a semifinal after those matches I survived, it doesn't get better than that. After I won that first round match, my goal was only to take it one match at a time."
Next for Jankovic will be the winner of the second quarterfinal of the day, which pits top seed Justine Henin against No.5 seed Maria Sharapova. Jankovic is 1-2 in completed matches with Sharapova, winning their most recent match and pushing her to three sets in the two losses; she is 0-9 against Henin.
"This is 2008 and 2007 is behind me; I don't know what my record is against her, but it's a new year, so we begin at 0-0," said Jankovic on possibly playing Henin. "She has a tough one tonight, so we will see what will happen."
But back to today, Jankovic realizes the significance of her victory over Williams, and looks forward to a third chance to reach her first Grand Slam singles final.
"Defeating a defending champion, and a champion like Serena, isn't something that happens every day. I've beaten the Williams sisters a couple times, but here it's very special because last year I lost to her in the fourth round here, so getting revenge feels good. I'm so happy to be in the semis -- having no expectations, having injuries, and not really thinking that I can go far. I played one match at a time; I don't know how I'm doing it but I'm in the semis, and it feels great."
-- Courtesy Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
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