Top seed Jelena Jankovic moved into the East West Bank Classic semifinals with an impressive 7-5 6-4 victory over ninth seed Nadia Petrova and will next meet Russia’s Dinara Safina, seeded fourth, who crushed Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-1 in her quarterfinal.
Jankovic fought back from breaks down in both sets in the quarterfinal and is now two steps away from taking the No.1 ranking from fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic.
The biggest problem of J.J. are always her injuries, but she said her knee was holding up well and was satisfied with her movement. Despite constant health problems, her game has improved, and I especially like this quote of Petrova: “She’s not just running on the baseline anymore, she’s serving better and taking the ball earlier and coming forward.”
In the other semifinal at the East West Bank Classic seed No.10 Flavia Pennetta, who beat 14th-seeded Sybille Bammer 7-6 3-6 6-1, will encounter unseeded American Bethanie Mattek, who defeated China’s Yuan Meng 6-2 7-5.
