Defending champion Jelena Jankovic moved into the second round of the Kremlin Cup by beating Yaroslava Shvedova 6-4 5-7 6-1. Kim Clijsters also won her opening-round match on Tuesday, defeating Meghann Shaughnessy 6-2 6-2 at the BGL Luxembourg Open.

Shvedova had upset Jankovic in the second round of the US Open in September, but the Serb avenged the defeat by winning five successive games in the third set to defeat the Kazakh in Moscow. Jankovic’s next opponent will be Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.

At the BGL Luxembourg Open, the other tournament played this week, second seed Kim Clijsters won her eighth straight singles match and the first one since capturing the 2009 US Open title. It’s worth noting that the Belgian is a five-time champion of the Luxembourg tournament.

Reminder: At the Kremlin Cup, the second-seeded Jankovic is competing with Vera Zvonareva and Agnieszka Radwanska for the remaining spot in Doha. (photos via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

World No.59 Anna Chakvetadze is expected to skip all the tournaments in the next four to six weeks due to a stress fracture in her right foot.

The 22-year-old Russian said:

The doctors gave me this boot that I have to use for the next three or four weeks. I must admit having them on is like weird and funny. I feel like I’m a pirate.

Chakvetadze may play the October 19 – 25 Kremlin Cup in her home Moscow. (source: Women Who Serve, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

I hope Jelena Jankovic finally proved to be worthy of occupying the No.1 spot in the rankings by winning her third title in 15 days (after China Open and Stuttgart). The top-seeded Serb prevented Russian Vera Zvonareva from scoring victory in a Tier I final for the first time.

Both players were competing in their sixth final of the year, but Jankovic was more successful, defeating the seventh-seeded Muscovite 6-2 6-4 and taking home her fourth title of the 2008 season.

On her way to the Kremlin Cup trophy and $196,900 in Moscow, the 23-year-old Jankovic defeated Vera Dushevina, Flavia Pennetta, third seed Elena Dementieva, and eventually Vera Zvonareva.

BTW: World No.4 Elena Dementieva said this about Jankovic's tennis: "Her defensive game is just phenomenal, and it's almost impossible to hit a good shot from the baseline because she can cover the whole court. No matter what shot you hit, she is able to get to it and hits everything back at you. It seems like she can cover not only a tennis court but a whole soccer field." (photo via Yahoo)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic defeated third-seeded Elena Dementieva 0-6 6-1 6-0 (what a score!) in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup.

Jankovic overcame a dreadful start to defeat the defending champion Dementieva. After being bageled in the first set, the Serb took 12 of the last 13 games to overcome the Russian in one hour 17 minutes and reach the final in Moscow.

Jankovic, who is now 6-3 lifetime against the Olympic champion Dementieva, is making only her second appearance at the Kremlin Cup. The first time she played in Moscow was in 2005 when she fell in the first round.

The world number one Jankovic is now just one step away from her third successive WTA singles title. Her next opponent will be Russian Vera Zvonareva who has just defeated compatriot Dinara Safina. (photo: Getty Images)

World number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia is on a good way to her third consecutive WTA singles title as she reached the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup with a 7-6(6) 6-3 win over Italian Flavia Pennetta.

The world No.18 Pennetta led 3-0 in the tiebreak but then lost momentum by double-faulting. The Italian had another chance; in the second set she could have went 4-2 up during a game of 12 deuces, but top-seeded Jankovic prevailed.

Jankovic’s next opponent will be defending champion and Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva who beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-4 4-6 7-6(6) to reach the last four.

Here’s what third-seeded Dementieva said about Jankovic's current form: "She is the strongest player in the world. She's playing terrific tennis and has just won back-to-back titles on different surfaces and in different parts of the world. It won't be an easy match. It will be interesting for me to challenge her."

In the other two quarterfinals second seed Dinara Safina defeated fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 7-5, and seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva beat Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-4 to ensure her first semifinal in her hometown event, after playing five quarterfinals. (source: BBC, photo: Getty Images)