Not a bad day for Serbian tennis. Even though young Serbian prospect Bojana Jovanovski fell in two tiebreaks in a courageous fight against Dominika Cibulkova in the second round of the US Open, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are progressing little by little.
After beating Elina Svitolina 6-3 6-2 in the first round, the 12th-seeded Ivanovic was dictating her second-round match against Sofia Arvidsson, comfortably taking out the Swede 6-2 6-2. Ivanovic took the first set in 29 minutes, fending off all six break points that Arvidsson earned. Clearly, the match depended on Ivanovic and her ability to avoid unforced errors in her attacking game. In the second set Arvidsson did break Ivanovic’s serve two times, but she couldn’t neutralize the Serb’s 4-0 initial lead. In the end, Ivanovic hit 39 winners to Arvidsson’s just 7, while in the unforced errors department Ivanovic’s outcome was 23 to Arvidsson’s 9.
After a 6-1 6-2 victory over Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round, the 30th-seeded Jankovic didn’t advance to the third round as easily, even though her 6-4 6-2 score against Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino may suggest so. The Serb fought for 53 minutes in the first set and 52 in the second.
Ivanovic’s hardcourt summer preparation for the US Open was quite devastating – due to a right foot injury, the only tournament Ivanovic played in that period was Montreal where she was double bageled by Roberta Vinci in her opening match. Jankovic ended the US Open tune-up period on a good note, with the final at the Texas Tennis Open (where her conqueror was also Roberta Vinci), even though she started the swing with two opening-round losses, at Montreal and Cincinnati.
Additional info: The women’s doubles pair of Jankovic and Jovanovski lost in the first round to Mona Barthel and Tatjana Malek yesterday. Ivanovic is not in the doubles competition. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Well that is certainly good news for them. Looking at the draw it will be a tough third round for both Ana and JJ. If cards are played right JJ could take on my second favorite player in the quarters, but i don’t see that happening Olga Puchkova had to get through the qualies to make it into the main draw. That would be so many matches for her. Olga does have the talent to play at the top level but like JJ she doesn’t play every match at that level.
P!nky, what do you think, can JJ beat Radwanska? I don’t think so… And Ana, I’m not sure, I can’t put my cards on her at any moment. But I’d like both of them to win. 🙂
Two part answer, yes i think JJ can beat Radwanska, but I don’t think JJ will win the 3rd round meeting. Ana I believe can make it to the quarters before losing and mio Olga loses this round as well 🙁
P!nky, of course JJ CAN beat Aga, but she proved that in reality she can’t, I mean, that is not to happen, and unfortunately she proved it today! I hope Ana will be victorious tonight.