Jelena Jankovic stopped by Flavia Pennetta at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Flavia PennettaDefending champion Jelena Jankovic will not add the white Porsche to her car collection, as she was beaten in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix by Flavia Pennetta.

I have to say it’s a pity we won’t see Jelena’s proud photos next to this luxurious car. Remember those with the red Porsche she won last year in Stuttgart?

The world No.14 Pennetta won the quarterfinal 2-6 6-4 6-4. Jankovic managed to come back from 2-0 down in the third set, and had her chance to end it as a victor, but dropped her serve in the seventh game once again. Pennetta then kept the lead and entered the semifinals on the first match point.

Pennetta will next face the winner of the match between world No.1 Dinara Safina and Agnieszka Radwanska. Second seed Elena Dementieva and fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova are the other semifinal pair. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Elena Dementieva, Jelena Jankovic advance to Stuttgart quarterfinals

Jelena JankovicSecond seed Elena Dementieva and third seed Jelena Jankovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

Dementieva played Agnes Szavay in the second round and despite being 4-1 behind in the first set, the Russian battled back to win the set in the tiebreak. Dementieva then cruised through the second set, but needed five match points to seal victory.

"I am still finding my feet on clay court. It is my first tournament of the year (on clay) and my footwork needs to improve," said Dementieva, who will next face Marion Bartoli, the winner over Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic overcame Germany’s promising player Sabine Lisicki, who won Family Circle Cup this month, and beat 20th-ranked Patty Schnyder in the previous round in Stuttgart. The world No.42 Lisicki took Jankovic to three sets, but the Serb won 7-5 5-7 6-3 after two hours and 13 minutes of play.

Jankovic will encounter Flavia Pennetta or sixth seed Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Victoria Azarenka exits Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in the second round

Victoria AzarenkaFourth seed Victoria Azarenka was upset 6-4 6-3 in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix by claycourt specialist Gisela Dulko.

The world number eight Azarenka came into the Stuttgart event off the back of three tournament wins this season: Brisbane, Memphis and Miami.

Defending champion Jelena Jankovic lost just two games to Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova to reach the second round. She will next face Sabine Lisicki following her 6-4 6-3 win over Patty Schnyder.

In other first-round matches fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova had a hard task against German qualifier Andrea Petkovic, winning 6-4 5-7 6-1. Nadia Petrova also needed three sets to beat Zheng Jie 6-4 5-7 6-4, while Daniela Hantuchova defeated Alize Cornet 6-3 6-1. Also, Flavia Pennetta advanced with a 6-2 6-0 victory over Anna Chakvetadze. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Safina cruises in Stuttgart, Jankovic reveals modest expectations

Dinara SafinaDinara Safina won her first match as world number one by defeating Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 to reach the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Safina, who celebrated her 23rd birthday in Stuttgart on Monday, defeated the 37th ranked Errani in just 51 minutes.

Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic, whose experiments with fitness regime ruined her game, decided to keep her expectations low: "I won't be thinking about defending the title here, it's more important for me to just get back to playing good tennis."

It’s bizarre and still painful that in Jankovic’s case it would’ve been better if she hadn’t worked at all, than those overly difficult trainings in the wrong direction. However, JJ learned her lesson: "You listen to your team and you think it will bring results. But my body just did not accept it [...] I am not doing any more experiments."

Great news is that the fourth-ranked Serb feels that her game is recovering: "I feel I am coming back into form."

World No.17 Dominika Cibulkova is awaiting Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. (sources: BBC, Reuters; photo: safina-dinara.com)

Jelena Jankovic wins Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Jelena Jankovic wins Porsche Tennis Grand PrixSecond seed Jelena Jankovic defeated Russia’s Nadia Petrova 6-4 6-3 in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final to win her second title in two weeks. The victory earned the world No.2 her eighth career title and a shiny red Porsche Carrera 911.

The 23-year-old Serb, who will on Monday return to No.1 in the rankings, also won the China Open last week and now has three titles this season.

Jankovic broke Petrova’s serve in the opening game to take the first set. In the second she led 3-1 with three break points for 4-1, but the 2006 Stuttgart champion Petrova tied at 3-3. Afterward, however, Jankovic regrouped and took the next three games for the title.

Jankovic improved her career record against the world No.18 Petrova to 6-2, with now three of those victories coming at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

Before beating Nadia Petrova, Jankovic had defeated Alona Bondarenko, seed No.7 Vera Zvonareva, and sixth-seeded Venus Williams at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. (photo via Yahoo)


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