Ana Ivanovic defeats Jelena Jankovic for her second successive French Open final
Last year’s runner-up Ana Ivanovic won a tough battle of the Serbs to advance to her third career Grand Slam final where she'll meet 13th-seeded Russian Dinara Safina who advanced with a victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 20-year-old Ivanovic defeated compatriot Jelena Jankovic 6-4 3-6 6-4 in today's semifinal.
Jankovic started the match strong, taking a 3-0 lead. However, Ivanovic managed to level at 4-4. The 20-year-old Ivanovic earned a crucial break in the ninth game and served out the set. Ivanovic then established a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Jankovic won the next five games to level the match. Jankovic twice led by a break in the decider but Ivanovic stormed back, broke Jankovic in the ninth game and finished the match on her first match point in the next game.
With this victory Ivanovic improved her head-to-head record against Jankovic to 6-1. Oh, it must hurt Jankovic – she missed the opportunity to become the world No.1 and also the first Serb to achieve such a feat, to reach her first Grand Slam final, and to improve her record against her younger colleague.
Ivanovic will rise from No.2 to No.1 in the world, for the first time in her career, when the rankings are updated on Monday. She will overtake Maria Sharapova. (photo via Tennis Channel)
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[...] Safarova, Caroline Wozniacki, seed No.30 Petra Cetkovska, No.10 seed Patty Schnyder, No.3 seed Jelena Jankovic, and finally Dinara Safina, seeded [...]
[...] Ivanovic reached the No.1 spot by beating fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic in Roland Garros 2008 [...]