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Jankovic, Ivanovic in French Open semis
Seeded Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic reached the French Open semifinals for the first time on Tuesday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: June 06, 2007 10:39 AM IST
Read Time:4 min
Paris:
The fourth-seeded Jankovic beat Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5, and Ivanovic upset 2006 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.
Kuznetsova, seeded third, lost more than half her service points and was broken six times by the seventh-seeded Ivanovic.
The 19-year-old Serb won 25 of 33 points in the first set against Kuznetsova. She made an unforced error in the match's first point, missing a backhand, and then only one other for the rest of that set.
Kuznetsova received treatment at 2-1 down in the third set for abdominal pains.
"It's been disturbing me for a while," said Kuznetsova, who lost to Ivanovic in the German Open final last month.
Jankovic won on her fifth match point when Vaidisova hit a forehand into the net.
The sixth-seeded Vaidisova saved her first match point with Jankovic serving at 5-4 in the second set, and wound up breaking her. Then, with the Serb serving again for the match in the 12th game, Vaidisova saved three more match points.
Ivanovic's first Grand Slam semifinal
Ivanovic made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal, while Jankovic reached her second after reaching the last four at the US Open last year. Jankovic has won three titles this year - including two on clay.
Vaidisova had 23 forehand winners to two for Jankovic, but also had more unforced errors - 42-20.
"Today was not a match where I could just keep the ball in play. I had to go for the shots," Vaidisova said. "Her second serve is not as strong. It's her weakness, so you have to go for it."
Jankovic converted all three of her breakpoint chances, while Vaidisova's aggressive approach didn't pay off.
"I definitely had my possibilities for sure. Almost every game on her serve I had break points," Vaidisova said. "I just didn't make those. She's a tough girl and she fights."
Jankovic will play either two-time defending champion Justine Henin or eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the semifinals. They met later on Tuesday in a rematch of their contentious 2003 semifinal in Paris.
Ivanovic meets the winner of the other quarterfinal, between No 2 Maria Sharapova and No 9 Anna Chakvetadze.
In men's quarterfinals, top-ranked Roger Federer was to play No 9 Tommy Robredo, and No 4 Nikolay Davydenko was to face No 19 Guillermo Canas.
Federer has won 10 Grand Slam titles, but has never won the French Open. He lost in the final last year to Rafael Nadal, and again to the Spaniard in the 2005 semifinals. That same year, Davydenko was a semifinalist at Roland Garros.
Nadal downs Moya
On Monday, Nadal continued his winning run at Roland Garros when he swept Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
The two-time defending champion is 18-0 lifetime at the French Open, which seems to be getting easier for him: For the first time, he reached the final eight without losing a set.
"I played my best match of the tournament," Nadal said. "Lleyton is always a very good test and a very tough match, because he is a winner. I'm happy with my game today."
A potential showdown looms Sunday between the No 2-seeded Nadal and Federer, who is seeking a career Grand Slam.
Nadal's opponent on Wednesday will be Carlos Moya, the 1998 champion.
"I prefer to lose against him than against any other player because he is a great friend," Nadal said. "He did a lot of things for me when I arrived on the men's circuit."
Moya declined to take credit for Nadal's dominance.
"I don't think he learned anything from me," Moya said. "And if he did, he did it much better than me."
The other quarterfinal Wednesday will be between No 125-ranked Igor Andreev and No 6-seeded Novak Djokovic.
Andreev, who eliminated No 3-seeded Andy Roddick in the opening round, advanced to his first major quarterfinal by rallying past No. 16 Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic swept unseeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (1) to reach the final eight for the second consecutive year.
"Last year, I honestly didn't expect to be in the quarterfinals," the 20-year-old Djokovic said. "I was pretty much satisfied with my achievement. This year is much different."
Seeded Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic reached the French Open semifinals for the first time on Tuesday.The fourth-seeded Jankovic beat Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5, and Ivanovic upset 2006 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-0, 3-6, 6-1.
Kuznetsova, seeded third, lost more than half her service points and was broken six times by the seventh-seeded Ivanovic.
The 19-year-old Serb won 25 of 33 points in the first set against Kuznetsova. She made an unforced error in the match's first point, missing a backhand, and then only one other for the rest of that set.
Kuznetsova received treatment at 2-1 down in the third set for abdominal pains.
"It's been disturbing me for a while," said Kuznetsova, who lost to Ivanovic in the German Open final last month.
Jankovic won on her fifth match point when Vaidisova hit a forehand into the net.
The sixth-seeded Vaidisova saved her first match point with Jankovic serving at 5-4 in the second set, and wound up breaking her. Then, with the Serb serving again for the match in the 12th game, Vaidisova saved three more match points.
Ivanovic's first Grand Slam semifinal
Ivanovic made it to her first Grand Slam semifinal, while Jankovic reached her second after reaching the last four at the US Open last year. Jankovic has won three titles this year - including two on clay.
Vaidisova had 23 forehand winners to two for Jankovic, but also had more unforced errors - 42-20.
"Today was not a match where I could just keep the ball in play. I had to go for the shots," Vaidisova said. "Her second serve is not as strong. It's her weakness, so you have to go for it."
Jankovic converted all three of her breakpoint chances, while Vaidisova's aggressive approach didn't pay off.
"I definitely had my possibilities for sure. Almost every game on her serve I had break points," Vaidisova said. "I just didn't make those. She's a tough girl and she fights."
Jankovic will play either two-time defending champion Justine Henin or eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the semifinals. They met later on Tuesday in a rematch of their contentious 2003 semifinal in Paris.
Ivanovic meets the winner of the other quarterfinal, between No 2 Maria Sharapova and No 9 Anna Chakvetadze.
In men's quarterfinals, top-ranked Roger Federer was to play No 9 Tommy Robredo, and No 4 Nikolay Davydenko was to face No 19 Guillermo Canas.
Federer has won 10 Grand Slam titles, but has never won the French Open. He lost in the final last year to Rafael Nadal, and again to the Spaniard in the 2005 semifinals. That same year, Davydenko was a semifinalist at Roland Garros.
Nadal downs Moya
On Monday, Nadal continued his winning run at Roland Garros when he swept Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
The two-time defending champion is 18-0 lifetime at the French Open, which seems to be getting easier for him: For the first time, he reached the final eight without losing a set.
"I played my best match of the tournament," Nadal said. "Lleyton is always a very good test and a very tough match, because he is a winner. I'm happy with my game today."
A potential showdown looms Sunday between the No 2-seeded Nadal and Federer, who is seeking a career Grand Slam.
Nadal's opponent on Wednesday will be Carlos Moya, the 1998 champion.
"I prefer to lose against him than against any other player because he is a great friend," Nadal said. "He did a lot of things for me when I arrived on the men's circuit."
Moya declined to take credit for Nadal's dominance.
"I don't think he learned anything from me," Moya said. "And if he did, he did it much better than me."
The other quarterfinal Wednesday will be between No 125-ranked Igor Andreev and No 6-seeded Novak Djokovic.
Andreev, who eliminated No 3-seeded Andy Roddick in the opening round, advanced to his first major quarterfinal by rallying past No. 16 Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic swept unseeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (1) to reach the final eight for the second consecutive year.
"Last year, I honestly didn't expect to be in the quarterfinals," the 20-year-old Djokovic said. "I was pretty much satisfied with my achievement. This year is much different."
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Andy Roddick Lukas Dlouhy Rohan Bopanna Leander Paes Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi Maria Sharapova
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