World number nine Jelena Jankovic reached her first semifinal of the season by beating Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The sixth-seeded Serb, a semifinalist at Indian Wells two years ago, won four straight games to come back from 2-4 down in the second set and win the error-strewn quarterfinal against the 23rd-seeded Russian. Jankovic made 21 unforced errors, while Kleybanova piled up a total of 40. However, the Russian was better in the number of winners, hitting 19 compared to Jankovic’s seven.

The 20-year-old Kleybanova was coming off her maiden WTA title at the Malaysian Open last month, and Jankovic ended her eight-match winning streak.

Jankovic’s semifinal opponent will be the winner of the Samantha Stosur vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez match. The other two already known semifinalists are good friends Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska. (photo by our reader Colleen)

Seed No.14 Kim Clijsters and third seed Victoria Azarenka made premature exits at the BNP Paribas Open, while sixth seed Jelena Jankovic fought her way into the fourth round.

Two-time Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters lost to Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) in the third round, despite storming through the second set and having a 4-0 lead in the third-set tiebreak.

"I definitely think I let it slip away but credit to her," said Clijsters after losing to the No.23 seed. "She played some really good points to get back into it."

Victoria Azarenka fell to 28th-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-6(4) 6-2 at the very tournament that propelled her into the Top 10 last year. The Belorussian quickly fell behind 5-1 and even though she saved four set points and leveled to 5-5, she lost the first set and shortly after the second as well.

Sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Sara Errani 2-6 7-6(6) 6-4 despite making 57 unforced errors compared to Errani's 42. The world No.9 quickly lost the first set, won the second in a tiebreak, and let her experience prevail in the decider of the marathon match to prevent Errani from scoring her first Top-10 victory in 12 attempts. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic suffered an upset in the opening round of the $220,000 Monterrey Open in Mexico, falling to world No.72 Anastasija Sevastova in their first encounter.

The ninth-ranked Jankovic saved set point down 5-4 to take the first set, but wasted a 3-1 lead in the second set and 4-2 in the third to eventually lose to Latvia’s only Top 500 player 5-7 6-4 6-4.

The 19-year-old Sevastova has now scored her first Top 10 victory. Before, she had faced two Top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 US Open and Agnieszka Radwanska at Dubai this year, but lost to both.

Jankovic has played four events so far in 2010 and is yet to reach a quarterfinal. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Serbia’s world No.9 Jelena Jankovic celebrated her 25th birthday on February 28th in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jankovic received a wildcard for the $220,000 Monterrey Open and is about to play her first-round match against Anastasija Sevastova, ranked 72th in the world.

The top-seeded Serb is the only Top 10 player in Mexico, as the others took some time to rest for the next week’s big event in Indian Wells. Second seed at the Monterrey Open is 24th-ranked Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, also a wildcard. (photos via Great Tennis Photos)

Serbian former world No.1 tennis player Jelena Jankovic has decided to move to Dubai and make it her home base.

"I love so many things about this place," said the world No.8 who has lost in the third round of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship this week. "The people are good and the place is lovely as I can step out anytime and practice."

Does anyone know what happened to JJ's dream house in San Diego? I remember the talks about her building it, but I haven't heard of it being finished or anything, and now she's moving to Dubai. (source: ESPN via Forty Deuce)